HARVEY, William (1578-1657). Opera omnia, London, 1766, 4to, engraved portrait, plate, contemporary calf gilt (rebacked). "The best collected edition of his works is that published by the College of Physicians, edited by Dr Lawrence, in 1766" (see DNB).

HARVEY, William (1578-1657).  Opera omnia: a Collegio Medicorum Londinensi edita, edited by Thomas Lawrence and Mark Akenside. [From the colophon:] London: "Excudebat Guilielmus Bowyer," 1766. 4to (285 x 230mm). Engraved portrait frontispiece of the author by John Hall after Cornelius Johnson [signed "Jonson" in the engraving], engraved plate, text in Latin throughout, "Emendanda" [i.e. errata] leaf at the end (some mainly light marginal spotting and staining, some heavier staining and spotting to a few leaves, a few signatures starting). Contemporary calf gilt (rebacked with [?]later tan morocco lettering-piece, rubbed and scuffed, corners worn, inner hinges reinforced some time ago). Provenance: From the Collection of Professor Jonathan Brostoff, D.M., D.Sc., FRCP, FRCPath (1934-2020); "Bruce" (old signature at head of title); one-page typed letter to Professor Jonathan Brostoff, relating to the work, dated 18 April 2007, and signed "Geoff Davenport", loosely-inserted (see illustration). The first work in this collection, in which Harvey outlines for the first time the idea of the circulation of blood, is "Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus" which is described by Garrison & Morton as "[t]he most important book in the history of medicine." (See PMM 127.) "The best collected edition of his works is that published by the College of Physicians, edited by Dr Lawrence, in 1766" (see DNB). Heirs of Hippocrates 444; Keynes 47: "Harvey's chief works in Latin have only twice been printed in a collected form, first by van Kerckherm at Leyden in 1737, and secondly by Bowyer for the Royal College of Physicians in 1766. The latter is an imposing volume with a fine engraved portrait"; Waller 4128; Wellcome III, 220.