[Epic book in dental history; the first book devoted to tooth anatomy by the 16th Italian anatomist Eustachi, and the very copy owned by the plagiarist Hemard who authored the first dental book in French]

Very rare first edition of the first book devoted entirely to teeth. His treatise contains the description of the first and second dentition, the composition of the tooth (enamel and dentine) and his explanations on the causes of the hypersensitivity of dental surfaces.

It is the second part of the extremely rare Opuscula anatomica (1563-1564) of Eustachi. The dentibus Libellus is printed with separate pagination, and a separate titlepage. It should be considered as a work in its own right.

One of the pillars of modern anatomy along with Vesalius, Bartolomeo Eustachi (1520-1574), a doctor in Rome and professor at the Sapienza, suffers from having his Anatomical engravings not published during his lifetime. They were only published in 1714 by Lancisi, the pope's physician.

This copy bears the signature Urbanus Hemardus, Latin for Urbain Hemard (1548-1593), the dentist to the cardinal in Lyon, and a contemporary of Eustachi. Hemard was author of the first French monograph devoted to dentistry: Recherche de la vraye anathomie des dents, nature et proprietez d'icelles, published in Lyon in 1582.

It was not until the early 20th century that it was discovered Hemard had plagiarized many passages almost verbatim from that of Eustachi's Libellus de Dentibus (See Portal, History of Anatomy and Surgery, 1770 AND Prof. Arrigo Piperno, "Bartolomeo Eustachio e il libello ', dentibus', in La Stomatologia, vol.1, no.1, Milan, 1913, which quotes the plagiarized passages, confronting the original in Latin and French translation).

Educated in Montpellier , Urbain Hémard (Entraygues, 1584 - Estaing, 1592) was called to the Cardinal d'Armagnac in Rodez, who suffered from a terrible toothache, and became became his dentist. Hemard published his treatise and dedicated it to him. This copy, undoubtedly the one used by Hémard to draw up his own treatise, bears his ex-libris Urbanus Hemardus on the title.

Provenance: From the Jean Blondelet library. H S AYOVBVS on back pastedown.

Choulant-Frank, p. 200. - Cushing E111. - Durling 1408. - Garrison-Morton 3668. - Wellcome 2091. - Heirs of Hippocrates 322.