MECKEL, Johann Friedrich (1781-1833) and SOEMMERRING, Samuel Thomas von (1755-1830). Samueli Thomae Soemmerringio anatomico et physiologo celeberrimo die VII Aprilis. Halle: L. Voss, 1828.

First edition of a rare work of exceptional anatomical plates, commemorating Soemmerring’s doctoral jubilee and previously owned by Rudolf Virchow. This monumental anatomical study contains the first publication of a series of outstanding engravings depicting specimens from the private anatomical museum of Johann Friedrich Meckel's grandfather, Meckel the Elder (1724-1774). Meckel the Elder taught medicine and botany at Berlin, where he also began to put together his collection—which would be subsequently enlarged by his son and then grandson. The plates, drawn by Johann Bernhard Gottfried and engraved by Christian Benjamin Glassbach, represent lymphatic vessels in various organs, prepared by using mercury injection. The detail is exceptional and rivals the best of Sommering’s own anatomical work.

Large folio (782 x 580mm). Half-title. Six engraved plates (minor foxing, some dampstaining and a few puncture holes at the margins). Original publisher’s cloth with paper title label printed in black on the front board (cloth beginning to peel at extremities, scattered stains, library label pasted to the upper spine). Provenance: Rudolf Virchow, 1821-1902, the father of modern pathology and pioneering cellular biologist (memorial bookplate).