SCARPA, A Treatise on the Principal Diseases of the Eyes, 1818

A TREATISE ON THE PRINCIPAL DISEASES OF THE EYES. BY ANTONIO SCARPA, FOREIGN MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES IN PARIS; EMERITUS-PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR OF THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE IN THE ROYAL IMPERIAL UNIVERSITY OF PAVIA; AND CHEVALIER OF THE ROYAL ORDER OF THE IRON CROWN. ILLUSTRATED BY ENGRAVINGS. TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN, WITH NOTES, By JAMES BRIGGS, SURGEON TO THE PUBLIC DISPENSARY. THE SECOND EDITION, CONSIDERARLY ENLARGED. LONDON: PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, STRAND. 1818.
 
Half dark brown leather with marbled paper over boards. Red title label with gold text and raised bands on spine. New end papers. Pencil dealer notes on ffep. 19th century owner’s signature (Edward Stanley) on title page. Slight marginal toning to lower corner of first few leaves. Three folding plates at rear with corresponding explanatory leaves affected by damp stain and slight toning. Otherwise, clean, bright, and tight throughout. Margins well regained.
 
Heirs 688, Waller 8543, and G-M 5835 are the first (Italian) edition. Heirs: “Antonio Scarpa (1752-1832) … a brilliant artist as well as brilliant anatomist, was trained in anatomy by Morgagni in Padua and studied surgery in Bologna. … This classic work on ophthalmology remaine the standard text for several decades, going through several editions and translations. It established Scarpa’s reputation as a leading ophthalmologist and is especially notable for its copper plate engravings of the anatomy of the eye, drawn by the anatomist.” Heirs goes on to call plate 1 in this book “one of the most arresting of all anatomic illustrations.”
 
New ffep, new blank, xv, 541, 1 pg ad. new blank, new frep. 3 plates