Rome: Angeli Bernabo, 1680-81. In two volumes. First edition. 4to. (xii), 376, (12); (iv), 520 pp. Illustrated with 18 engraved folding plates. Full contemporary vellum, title in ink on each spine, some discoloration and staining; dark speckled edges; armorial book-plate of Lister Holte of Aston in Warwickshire on front paste-down of each volume; inscribed by Ippolito de Hencini of Pistoia at front of each volume: "Ippoliti de Hencinis Pistoriensis ex Legato Authoris"; scattered spotting and toning to text (largely in second volume); several plate folds repaired, scattered wear along edges of same. Carli and Favaro 344 and 350; Dibner 190; Horblit 13; Garrison and Morton 762; Norman 270; Osler 2087

Handsome first edition--inherited from the estate of the author--of this foundational work on biomechanics. "Borelli originated the neurogenic theory of the heart's action and first suggested that the circulation resembled a simple hydraulic system. He was the first to insist that the heart beat was a simple muscular contraction. One of the founders of biomechanics, Borelli was a representative of the Iatro-Mathematical School, which treated all physiological happenings as rigid consequences of the laws of physics and mechanics" (Garrison-Morton)