SCARPA, ANTONIO. 1752-1832.


Tabulae neurologicae ad illustrandam historiam anatomicam cardiacorum nervorum, noni nervorum cerebri... Pavia: B. Comini, 1794. Broadsheets (582 x 470 mm). 14 engraved plates (7 in outline). 19th-century half calf and marbled boards, rebacked. A few creases, some light staining. FIRST EDITION. SCARPA'S ANATOMIC MASTERPIECE with seven life-size plates, engraved from Scarpa's own drawings by Faustino Anderloni (1766-1847). "This elegantly illustrated anatomical atlas is regarded as Scarpa's greatest work. The result of 20 years of research, it includes the first proper delineation of the glossopharyngeal, vagus, hypoglossal, and cardiac nerves, and the first demonstration of cardiac innervation. Scarpa was a skillful draughtsman. He personally trained Faustino Anderloni, the artist who made the drawings and engraved the copperplates for his books" (Garrison-Morton). "Scarpa's anatomic masterpiece... Scarpa was the first to delineate correctly the nerves of the heart, and showed that the terminal ramifications of the cardiac nerves are directly connected to the cardiac muscular fibers. Scarpa also showed that nerves are not always excited by a stimulus, which shed light on the inhibitory function of the cardiac nerves" (Norman). Choulant-Frank 299; Garrison-Morton 1253; Heirs of Hippocrates 1105; Norman 1897; Waller 8545.