HARVEY, WILLIAM. 1578-1657.


Exercitationes de generatione animalium. London: Du Gard, for Octavian Pulleyn, 1651. Small 4to (218 x 158 mm). Engraved frontispiece illustration of Zeus (opposite preface). Later vellum, morocco gilt spine label, custom cloth slipcase. Shelfwear, minor browning.FIRST EDITION of what Harvey considered his most significant work and the culmination of his career. The book was the most significant contribution to the study of embryology ever undertaken in its time. The frontispiece depicts Zeus with an egg in his hand, with the inscription "Ex Ovo Omnia" (All From the Egg), emphasizing the concept of the origin of all living organisms that Harvey expounds throughout the book. Garrison-Morton 467; Keynes 34; Norman 1011; Russell 351; Wing H-1091.