Monro, Bursae Mucosae, 1788
A Description of All the Bursae Mucosa of the Human Body; Their Structure Explained, and compared with that of the capsular ligaments of the joints, and of those sacs which line the cavities of the thorax and abdomen; with remarks on the accidents and diseases which affect those several sacs, and on the operations necessary for their cure. Illustrated with Tables. By Alexander Monro, M.D. Professor of Physic, Anatomy, and Surgery, in the University of Edinburgh; Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Surgery of Paris. Edinburgh: Printed for C. Elliot, T. Kay, and Co. No. 332, opposite Somerset-Place, Strand, London; And for Charles Elliot, Edinburgh. 1788.
Folio in new full brown paneled leather over boards, with red title label, raised bands, and gold details on spine. A few small imperfections in leather. New end papers. Institutional library embossing and ink stamps on title page, its verso, and the versos of plates, as well as a few other pages. A few folded and slightly tattered page edges, but most are square with sharp corners. Ample margins. Scattered foxing, but mostly clean, bright, and tight. Terse ink and pencil library notations on bottom of A2. Several of the plates, originally issued as separate sheets, in this copy have been trimmed, with some loss, to be laid on linen to form impressively large (life-size) fold outs.
New ffep, title (A)-B^2, C, Table I (folding), C2, Table 2 (folding), D, Table 3 (folding), D2, Table IV, Table V (folding), E-E2, Table VI-VII, F-N2, O, Table 8 (folding), O2-P, Table IX, P2, Table X, new rfep.
New ffep, (title-5), 6-10, Table I (folding), 11/12, Table 2 (folding), 13/14, Table 3 (folding), 15/16, Table IV, Table V (folding), 17-20, Table VI-VII, 21-54, Table 8 (folding), 55-58, Table IX, 59/60, Table X, new rfep.
Alexander Monro Secundus (1733 – 1817) is generally regarded as the greatest of the three Alexander Monros (the held, in turn, the Chair of Anatomy at Edinburgh from 1720 to 1846 (Thornton, 1966). Secundus studied under his father, Primus, as well as Hunter, Albinus, and Meckel the Elder. Indeed, it was Albinus who named the bursae mucosae (Heirs of Hippocrates 634 and 635). He is the one who is credited with the discovery of the eponymous Foramen of Monro in the brain (see Garrison Morton 1385, and Waller. 6645 and 6646).
G-M 399.2 “The first serious study of this subject and the most original anatomical work by the greatest of the Monro dynasty.”