The Hand

T H E H A N D

ITS MECHANISM AND VITAL ENDOWMWNTS

AS EVINCING DESIGN

BY

SIR CHARLES BELL K.G.H.

F.R.S. L. & E.

LONDON

WILLIAM PICKERING

1833

DESCRIPTION

(ii) + xv + 288pp + (ii)

Book measures 225mm x 140mm approximately.

Handsomely bound in full speckled tan calf. Spine (possibly later) with five raised gilt-ruled bands with elaborate blind-tooled decorative work to gilt-boxed compartments and title and author in gilt. Single gilt fillet border to both boards. Series of anatomical and biological engraved illustrations throughout. Sand coloured end-papers and paste-downs.

CONDITION

In overall very good condition with binding firm and strong. Boards have a few minor scuffs, light surface scratches, with moderate bumping to corners. The spine has a lighter olive colour (again, possibly later). Previous owner bookplate central to front paste-down.

Internally the pages are very clean throughout with just a few occasional spots and light foxing towards end-papers.

Overall, a nicely bound volume in good condition.

Please always refer to photo images for a clearer indication of condition.

We are always happy to provide further photo images if required.

INTERESTING

Sir Charles Bell (1774 to 1842) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for discovering the difference between sensory nerves and motor nerves in the spinal cord. He is also noted for describing Bell's palsy.

In 1798, Bell graduated from the University of Edinburgh and soon after was admitted to the Edinburgh College of Surgeons where he taught anatomy and operated at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. While developing his talents as a surgeon, Bell's interests forayed into a field combining anatomy and art.

In 1804, Charles Bell left for London and in 1805 had established himself in the city by buying a house on Leicester Street. From this house Bell taught classes in anatomy and surgery for medical students, doctors, and artists. In 1809, Bell was among a number of civilian surgeons who volunteered to attend to the many thousands of ill and wounded soldiers who had retreated to Corunna, and 6 years later he again voluntarily attended to the ill and wounded in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo.

Charles Bell was a prolific author who combined his anatomical knowledge with his artistic eye to produce a number of highly detailed and beautifully illustrated books. In 1799, Bell published his first work "A System of Dissections, explaining the Anatomy of the Human Body, the manner of displaying Parts and their Varieties in Disease". In 1821, he described in the trajectory of the facial nerve and a disease, Bell's Palsy which led to the unilateral paralysis of facial muscles, in one of the classics of neurology, a paper delivered to the Royal Society entitled On the Nerves: Giving an Account of some Experiments on Their Structure and Functions, Which Lead to a New Arrangement of the System.