GAUTIER D’AGOTY, Jacques Fabien.

A very good copy, with plates in fresh and fine impression, of this rare book of cranial illustrations in colour. Drawn to life, the 8 colour mezzotint engravings illustrate the brain from four different angles, the distribution of blood vessels in the head, the organs of the senses (eyes, nose, tongue), and some of the nerves. Jacques Gautier d’Agoty (1711-86) trained as an engraver under Le Blon, and from him he learnt the ropes of colour engraving and printing techniques, using three colour plates (yellow, red and blue). After leaving Le Blon, Gautier honed a technique for multi-colour printing by adding another plate painted black, as L’Admiral had already attempted. Gautier eventually obtained the royal privilege as the sole inventor of this technique, publishing numerous illustrated books, especially on medicine and natural science. ‘Some of the plates in “Anatomie de la Tête” are among the most elaborate produced by Gautier, especially notable for the intricate network of blood vessels which are meticulously indicated by direct color printing’ (Heirs of Hipp.). ‘The colour illustrations must have been a sensation in their day and they combine anatomical images with an artistic flair for presentation. As a result, however, they look more like still life compositions than anatomy diagrams and lack the detail which would have been truly useful for students’ (Salter, p.198). As with Gautier’s other books, the intended readers were thus likely to be the educated middle classes, with an interest in book illustrations and medicine. The detailed letterpress explanations for the plates, in French and Latin, and the designs had been overseen by Joseph Guichard Duverney (1648–1730), professor of surgery at Paris, specialised in otology. Several of his works, like the present, appeared in print after his death. Some footnotes clarify contrasting or matching medical opinions on the anatomy of the head, or express Duverney’s views in relation to his professional experience. A fine copy of this rare, imposing and important work.  

Our copy collates with 18 ll. comprising 8 plates and 10 ll. of text. This is the standard arrangement, the same in 11 out of the 19 copies we have located.  Three have fewer and 5 have more. This difference relates to the prefatory material. Most have the dedication but not (as ours) the advertisement/approbation leaf, a few neither and a few all. This suggests the existence of at least three states.