Birth of Mankind, Otherwise Caled, The Womans Book: Or A Guide for Women, In their Conception. Bearing, and Suckling their Children. Containing 1. The anatomie of the vessel of generation. 2. The formation of the child in the womb. 3. What hinders conception; and its remedies. 4. What furthers conception.

London: Printed for J.L. for Henry Hood, Abel Roper, and Richard Tomlins, 1654. REYNALD, Thomas. . The Birth of Mankind, Otherwise Caled, The Womans Book. Or A Guide for Women, In their Conception. Bearing, and Suckling their Children. Containing 1. The anatomie of the vessel of generation. 2. The formation of the child in the womb. 3. What hinders conception; and its remedies. 4. What furthers conception. 5. A guide for women in conception. 6. Of miscarriage in women. 7. A guide for women in labour. 8. A guide for women in their lying in. 9. Of nursing of children. Illustrated with figures.Ilustrated with Figures. Translated into English by Thomas Reynald, Doctor of Physics. The Fourth Edition Corrected and Augmented. London: Printed for J.L. for Henry Hood, Abel Roper, and Richard Tomlins, 1654.

Fourth and expanded edition of Thomas Raynalde's translation of Roesslin's classic De partu hominis. Small quarto (7 1/2 x 5 3/4 inches; 188 x 145 mm). [8], 192, 185-192, 191-193, [1, blank] pp. Text and register are continuous despite pagination. With same pagination errors as British Library. According to Krivatsy, this edition includes the addition of "Directions for the nursing of children, and how to choose a good nurse" which was not found in previous editions. With woodcut initials, and head and tail pieces, and nine full-page woodcut illustrations, included in pagination.

Contemporary full calf. Red morocco spine label, lettered in gilt. Spine and corners with some minor repairs. Some rubbing to boards and edges. Bottom of spine repaired. Leaf N2 with two-inch closed tear, with no loss. A small hole going through leaves Aa1-4, affecting a few letters. Leaves Bb1-Cc1 with some marginal tears, not affecting text. Leaves with some minor soiling and toning. Pastedowns are detached but bound in. Three previous owner's bookplates on endpapers. Overall very good.

"Roesslin's obstetrical treatise, first published in German in 1513 under the title Der Swangern Frawen und Hebammen Roszgarten, had an enormous impact on contemporary obstetrical practice and remained influential for two hundred years, going trough over one hundred editions before the close of the eighteenth century. The work contained little original material, being primarily a survey of Greek and Roman obstetrical literature, but it was the first to deal with obstetrics as a separate subject, and the first to print illustrations of the birth chair and the fetus in utero. It was also the first obstetrical work written especially for midwives, which was the reason for its originally appearing in the vernacular. The first Latin edition, prepared by Eucharius Roesslin the younger, appeared in 1532 and was followed by eleven or twelve others. Most of the translations into other languages -including the English Byrth of Mankynde- were derived from the Latin version" (Norman Library, 1843).

"The work became the standard midwifery text, going through a total of thirteen editions before it was superseded in the 1650s." (Oxford DNB).

Garrison and Morton. Norman Library 1844 (1545 second edition).ESTC R218053. Krivatsy 9810

HBS 68950.

$3,000.