RUYSCH (Frederik). Thesaurus anatomicus primus [-decimus]. Het eerste [-tiende] anatomisch cabinet. Amsterdam, Joannes Wolters then Jansson-Waesberghe, 1701-1716. 10 parts in one volume in-4, stiff vellum, smooth spine, speckled edges (Dutch binding of the period). Rare and sought-after first edition of the catalog of this famous cabinet of anatomical curiosities. The work is divided into ten parts, each describing one of Ruysch's anatomical cabinets. The text is printed on two columns, in Latin and Dutch. Each part has its own title and pagination. The last part has two successive title pages, one without publisher's name, dated 1715, and the other with Jansson-Waesberghe's address, dated 1716. The illustration consists of forty-two single or folding plates hors texte, engraved in intaglio by Cornelis Huyberts (1669-1712), except for seven plates signed by Joseph Mulder (1658-1742) and two by Abraham de Blois. Some of the folded plates show the curious dioramas of skeletons, human organs, teratological specimens, naturalized plants and animals, etc., that Ruysch composed in the resolutely macabre spirit of the vanities dear to the Classical Age. "The engraved illustrations deserve special mention for their whimsical, almost surrealistic, quality: quaintly posed skeletons surrounded by stuffed monsters, strange reptiles, dried plants, and sea creatures" (Heirs of Hippocrates). None of the dioramas depicted survive today. Frederik Ruysch (1638-1731), Professor of Anatomy and Botany at the Illustrious Athenaeum in Amsterdam, is best known for his collection of rare anatomical specimens, the first of its kind, which numbered almost two thousand items organized in twelve cabinets of curiosities. The collection was acquired in 1717 by Tsar Peter the Great for the sum of thirty thousand florins. It was first placed in the Summer Palace, then in the Kunstkamera or Peter the Great Museum in St. Petersburg, where it is still studied today. "Ruysch's skill in preparing anatomical specimens remains unsurpassed even today. He made hundreds of preparations, both of individual organs and entire corpses, and exhibited them in several houses in Amsterdam; this "anatomic cabinet" became a major attraction for foreign visitors" (Norman). A superb, fresh copy in its first Dutch vellum binding. It includes one more engraved plate than the Norman copy, featuring eight kidney sections described in the Prodromus of Part Six. There are also two errata leaves missing from Norman's collation, at the end of parts one and nine; the errata of part nine is a little shorter in margins than the volume. Faint wetness on pp. 55-58 of the ninth part; small lack affecting the engraving on the last plate. Norman, n°1875 - Garrison & Morton, n°389 - Heirs of Hippocrates, n°627 (reissued 1726).