Jan Bleuland, 1784

BLEULAND, Jan (1756-1838). Experimentum anatomicum quo arteriolarum lymphaticarum existentia probabiliter adstruitur, institutum, descriptum, et icone illustratum. Leiden: Abraham and Jan Honkoop, 1784.

First edition of Bleuland’s histological investigation of lymphatic vessels, with color-printed illustration and uncut in original boards. Bleuland perfected a technique of injecting tissue structures with fixatives and dyes to reveal anatomical details and his printed illustrations of the results are remarkable for their precision in depicting microscopic detail. Goldschmid considered them pieces of exemplary printing, unusual in subject and make-up for the period; they are probably the first examples of color-printing of microscopic subjects. Anatomie de la couleur 124; Goldschmid, Entwicklung und Bibliographie der pathologisch-anatomischen Abbildung 86; not in Waller or Wellcome.

Quarto (275 x 214mm). One color-printed plate. Original blue paper boards, uncut (losses at head and foot of spine). Provenance: monogram label on insider cover – René Ledoux-Lebard, 1879-1948, physician and scholar of the history of color engraving (monogram stamp).