Grew, Nehemiah.

The Anatomy of Plants. With an Idea of a Philosophical History of Plants, and Several Other Lectures Read Before the Royal Society

London: W. Rawlins, 1682. First Thus. Rebound to style in modern half calf over marbled boards with gilt to spine. Dark topstain. Pages measuring 200 x 310mm. Internally a pleasing, fresh, wide-margined copy with small hole to leaf L4 affecting two words and loss to the outer margin of plate 45 with no loss to text or image. Collating complete: [22], 24, [10], 212, [4], 221-304, [20, index] plus 83 leaves of plates at the rear, of which 5 are folding. Per the imprimatur leaf signed in type by Christopher Wren: "At a meeting of the Council of the Royal Society, Feb. 22 1681/2 Dr. Grew having read several lectures of the anatomy of plants...it is therefore ordered that he be desired to cause them to be printed together in one place." A lovely example of Grew's innovative lectures on plants to the Royal Society, together in one volume.

A pioneer in the field of plant anatomy, Grew was the first to explore how plants develop organs and tissues, and in what ways they reproduce. Grew himself seemed to understand that he was breaking entirely new ground; and he proudly presented his work in a series of lectures to the Royal Academy of Sciences, to which he was elected a member in 1673. "Of what antiquity the Anatomy of Animals is, and how great have been its Improvements of later years is well known. That of Vegetables is a subject matter which from all ages to this day hath not only lain uncultivated; but for ought I know, except some observations from our country-men, hath not been so much as thought upon." Grew's text sets out as a corrective, and from it has sprung a diverse and important field of scientific inquiry. The present work pulls together six of his most influential work at the request of the Royal Society, reissuing several with revisions to reflect the most up to date knowledge of the field. Included in the text are An Idea of the Philosophical History of Plants (second edition), The Anatomy of Plants Begun (second edition), The Anatomy of Roots (second edition), The Anatomy of Trunks (second edition), The Anatomy of Leaves, Flowers, Fruits and Seeds, and Several Lectures Read Before the Royal Society, each with its own special title page.

ESTC R10887. (Item #3985)