Icones embryonum humanorum

Icones embryonum humanorum

Soemmerring, Samuel Thomas von, 1755-1830

1799

Francofurti ad Moenum: Varrentrapp et Wenner

20 engravings on [2] leaves of plates.

Note about author: Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring was a polymath similar in intellectual gifts and broad interests to his friend Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He studied medicine at the University of Göttingen, receiving his degree in 1778. Using his skills as an illustrator and an acute observer, he developed a classification for the cranial nerves which superseded that of Thomas Willis. He identified and named the twelve cranial nerves and was the first to draw attention to the white matter of the brain, refuting the classification of the spinal cord as another cranial nerve. Icones Embryonum Humanorum consists of skillfully engraved plates, each with several depicitions of the human embryo showing development and growth over time. The engraver and artist Kock was personally trained by Sömmerring, who acknowledged him as one of the greatest anatomical illustrators. Plate I shows the human embryo outside of the uterus from the earliest stages to full term development. Note the appearance of the limb buds in Figure 3. -- MU Ellis Library Exhibit note (2010)

Embryo, Mammalian

2 unnumbered leaves, 10 pages : illustrations ; 64 cm

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