Bibliographic Information

History of Publication & Provenance

The Tisch Library at Tufts University owns a copy of the first American edition of Cheselden's book. It was first printed in 1795 in Boston by Manning and Loring for bookseller David West. It is 350 pages in length and titled Anatomical Tables of the Human Body. The copy that resides in Tisch is an abridged version, only 46 pages in length, printed by Manning and Loring in 1796.

Furthermore, Cheselden's book was originally printed and sold in London in 1713 under the title The Anatomy of the Humane Body. This first British edition consisted of 269 pages, with subsequent editions varying in length. William Cheselden (1688-1752) was a surgeon to His Majesty's Royal Hospital at Chelsea, Fellow of the Royal Society, and member of the Royal Academy of Surgeons at Paris. He dedicated his book to fellow physician Dr. Richard Mead. The engravings used in his book were created by fellow Englishman Gerard Vandergucht (1686-1776).

This book was donated to Tufts University by Frederick W. Crocker of Barnstable County, Massachusetts in 1858. It came from the library of Dr. Henry Tuck, who served as the vice-president of The New York Life Insurance Company. He was also a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. (The New York Times, 1904) Currently, it comprises part of the Special Collections at Tisch.

Title page of the Tisch Library copy. There is no printer's mark, however these decorative lines also appear in the 1795 version also printed by Manning and Loring.

Stamp on the book front pastedown, indicating its provenance. The "C-4" refers to its previous location in Wessell Library.

Relative small size of the book compared to the length of my hand. The book is leather-bound with sprinkled calf.

This photo shows the width of the book. It is 46 pages in length, which is over 200 pages shorter than the original edition.