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Historical Anatomies Home > Browse Titles > William Cowper: The anatomy of humane bodies

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Engraved portrait of William Cowper from the original painting by John Closterman, engraved in mezzotint by John Smith; Cowper is shown wearing a large wig typical of the late 17th century with flowing robes, with his name engraved beneath, from his Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Frontispiece

Engraved title page with allegorical scene featuring a goddess of wisdom seated on a throne with an angel above her blowing a horn, the throne engraved with the books title, and to the left underneath is an older bearded angel holding a scientific instrument in his left had, and in the bottom right corner are three babies looking at a skull and dissected arm; in the background is a Greek temple and two skeletons conversing, from William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Engraved, Allegorical Titlepage

Typeset title page of William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, with an engraved allegorical vignette at the bottom showing Athena setaed with a spear looking at the viewer with an open illustrated anatomy book in front of her and the Sheldonian Theater at Oxford University behind her; NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Engraved Titlepage

Typeset half title of the “Appendix representing the external muscles, and diverse parts of humane bodies …”, from William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Appendix Titlepage

Engraving of a nude male facing anatomical figure showing the musculature of the whole front of the body from neck and chest to arms and legs, with right hand outstretched to the side and left hand upraised, in a pastoral setting with classical ruins and a farmhouse in the background, from William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Appendix Table 1

Engraving of a nude male anatomical figure viewed from the back showing the musculature of the whole front of the body from neck and chest to arms and legs, with right hand outstretched to the side and left hand upraised, in a pastoral setting with classical ruins of a fortress in the background, from William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Appendix Table 2

Engraving of a disembodied human vascular system, not including the heart, laid out on a white field, with the head at the top and feet at the bottom, with two detailed close ups in circles to the left and right of the figure, from William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Appendix Table 3

Engraving showing the vascular systems of the bottom of the head and the renal system; at top right is a view of a skull from below showing the entry points of the spinal cord and several arteries and veins as well as the hard palate; at bottom right is pictured the renal system with emphasis on the vascular system; along the left hand side of the page are the thoracic ducts which move chyle from the liver to the digestive system and some lymph nodes on either side; from William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Appendix Table 4

Engraving showing 12 figures of dissections of the organs of speech and of hearing; the four figures in the upper left corner are the bones and structures of the ear and the temporal bone of the skull; at the bottom of the page and at the center of the top of the page are the organs of speech, including the larynx, windpipe, and even the salivary glands; from William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Appendix Table 5

Engraving of the interior of the bottom of the skull showing the foramen magnum at the top of the page, with the brain at the bottom of the page viewed from below with the spinal cord extending down, pinned down to a board, and with a part of the cerebellum sitting to the bottom right; from William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Appendix Table 6

Engraving of the brain lying on its base with the top up facing the viewer with the lobes of the cerebellum spread open, all at the top of the page; at the bottom of the page at the left is the mandible with teeth; and at lower right a portion of the cerebellum; from William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Appendix Table 7

Engraving of three views of the muscles of the face; the top half of the image is of a face with the skin and flesh removed to show the face of a man looking just to the left; at bottom are the muscles of the bottom half of the skull shown with its base uppermost, showing the bones and muscles of the jaw and the first vertebra as it attaches to the base of the skull; in the middle is a figure of the eyeball with its muscles and optic nerve extending from the sides and back of the organ; from William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Appendix Table 8

Engraving showing four images; the top half shows the muscles of the back of the head and neck, with part of the organ of hearing of a calf to the lower left; at the bottom right are the muscles of the pharynx and upper esophagus, and to the lower left are sections of the jejunum and the duodenum; from William Cowper’s Anatomy of the humane bodies, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C876a 1698.

Appendix Table 9