Smellie, A Sett of Anatomical Tables (on midwifery), First ed, 1754
A Sett of Anatomical Tables, with Explanations, and an Abridgment, of the Practice of Midwifery, With a View to illustrate a Treatise On that Subject, and Collection of Cases. By William Smellie, M.D. London: Printed in the Year MDCCLIV (1754).
Folio in later (19th century?) half vellum with marbled paper over boards. Scattered mild wear and stains on boards and spine. Hinges/joints strong. Some mild toning and bit of soiling. Plate 35 and corresponding text leaf trimmed in a bit close and ragged, but still well around the image. 3 inch tear into top margin and slightly into image of plate 18. Old repair to lower margin of text leaf for plates 37/38. Stains at top and bottom margins near gutter of plate 31. Images over all well preserved.
Ffep, title, one page preface, 39 plated with 39 explanatory text pages, rfep.
21 ½ x 15 x 1 inches.
Heirs 826: “Only two years after his famed treatise of midwifery appeared, Smellie published this set of plates, which is very rare and is said to have been issued in only 100 copies. The life-size plates are distinguished for their accuracy.”
6154.1: “The celebrated atlas for [his textbook], which is a complete work in itself. The 39 superb engravings include 26 after drawings by Jan van Rymsdyk, which are preserved in the Hunterian Collection at the University of Glasgow Library. The remainder were by Smellie, “assisted by a pupil called [Pieter] Camper”. Camper’s drawings are preserved in the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, and in Leiden University.”
See also Heirs 825: William Smellie( 1697 – 1763) “The greatest figure in English obstetrics was William Smellie, who, after twenty years of village practice, came to London to devote himself to the teaching and practice of obstetrics. To him are owed the first attempts to measure the fetal cranium in utero, and also important studies on the mechanism of delivery (Arturo Castiglioni, A history of medicine. New York, 1946. pp. 629-630). Smellie introduced three new types of forceps and outlined safe rules for their use. It was he who separated obstetrics from surgery, and imparted to obstetrics the stamp of science.”
See also G-M 6154: “Smellie contributed more to the fundamentals of obstetrics than virtually any individual. In his Treatise he described more accurately than any previous writer the mechanism of parturition, stressing the importance of exact measurement of the pelvis. He was the first to lay down safe rules regarding the use of forceps, and personally introduced the steel-lock, the curved, and the double forceps. He invented the “Smellie maneuver” to deliver breech cases.”
