1821. Together two companion works, small folios; pp. xii, 90 with 5 engraved, partly coloured plates by J. F. Rosenmüller del. and J. F. Schröter, sculp., numbered Tab. I-III 3 with two plates in outline, Tab III misbound; pp. 15, [1] blank, with 4 engraved plates (two in outline and two hand-coloured), numbered IV-V, printed on differing paper stock and somewhat browned; small tear at tail of final leaf of first volume but with no loss, both volumes somewhat browned and foxed, and both text with marginal dampstaining, mainly affecting the fore-edge and tail, more prominent in the second work, though never touching either text and not affecting plates; contemporary half calf over brown marbled boards, retaining original silk marker, spine tooled in gilt with green morocco label, head and tail of spine nicked and worn with slight loss, joints rubbed and scuffed, with some white paint(?) staining touching label, covers scuffed, extremities bumped and corners bumped and worn; with book-plate on front paste-down, name partially obscured, but that of Cornelius Henricus À Roy, Doctor of Medicine (1750-1833). Rare first edition, complete in two parts and published over four years, of this finely illustrated treatise on the spinal nerves, which carry motor, sensory, and autonomic signals between the spinal cord and the body. In this early and little known work by the Prosector of Leipzig University, August Carl Bock (1782 - 1833), the noted German anatomist illustrates his work with striking copper engraved plates, some of which are hand-coloured in red to highlight the arteries. The plates are the work of the renowned Leipzig engraver J. F. Schröter, and those in the first volume drawn by the Leipzig surgeon Johann Christian Rosenmüller (1771-1820), who had himself published in 1805-7 his own finely illustrated surgical atlas Chirurgische-Anatomische abbildungen für Ärzte und Wundärzte. Both Bock and Rosenmüller took great pride in combining the arts of painting and anatomy, their works being particularly noteworthy for clarity and detail.
Bock was renowned as an excellent teacher of anatomy, able to provide clear representations of anatomical objects and preparations for his students, and indeed his anatomical preparations enriched the anatomical museum in Leipzig. This early work vividly conveys his great skill. He published a number of anatomical works, culminating in his large and noted atlas of 1833 Chirurgish-Anatomische Tafeln, which adopted the use of striking 'key-hole' cross sections, with various small portions of skin and muscles removed to enable the student to comprehend the complex layered nature of the human body.