REMMELIN, Johann

Catoptrum microcosmicum

Augsburg: Davidis Francki, 1619

First edition.

Folio, 465 x 343 mm. 3 full-page plates with 115 overlay flaps.

Contemporary vellum, stamp of Sigillum Maioris Rothomagen (i.e., town hall of Rouen).

One of the most vexing problems in illustrating human anatomy arises from its three-dimensional character. In almost all anatomy books this is dealt with by making a set of plates from the coronal viewpoint (i.e., face on) that show progressively deeper cross-sections of the body. However, the plates are typically printed on separate pages, thus requiring the viewer to mentally register the separate images of anatomical layers while turning pages back and forth. Furthermore, the internal configuration of the human body does not divide neatly into two-dimensional coronal planes; consequently it is difficult to portray the independently layered structures of the head, thorax, abdomen, and limbs.

In the early seventeenth century Johann Remmelin conceived the idea of directly superimposing the layers of cross-sectional images as a series of flaps that one would fold back one at a time to reveal progressively deeper layers of anatomical detail. By building up his flap cross-sections independently for different sections of the body he was able to create a more realistic three-dimensional effect. His aim was to visually simulate the experience of an actual dissection.

There had been a few earlier attempts at using flaps to illustrate three-dimensional figures but they were limited to one or two overlays. Remmelin's book was a tour de force incorporating 115 flaps on three full-page plates, with some cross sections running 15 layers deep. Making the illustrations and assembling each copy of the book was a remarkable technical achievement. It was, and remains, the most ambitious printed flap book in history.

from Remmelin, Catoptrum microcosmicum, Augsburg, 1619.

Johann Remmelin was a physician, not a scientist, and the book does not make any new contributions to the science of anatomy. It was intended rather as a didactic tool for elementary instruction and was so popular in that regard that it went through many editions extending well into the eighteenth century. It was, however, an expensive, fragile book, which limited its availability, usefulness, and longevity. Surviving examples of a completely intact first edition such as this one are exceedingly rare.