ORIGINAL COLOR DRAWINGS BY MEDICAL STUDENT. Precis d'Anatomie Descriptive. Aide-Memoire a l'Usage des Candidats au Premier Examen de Doctorat

Paris: Octave Doin, 1904. Fourth edition.

1904 UNIQUE FRENCH MANUAL OF HUMAN ANATOMY BY A PROMINENT BORDEAUX PROFESSOR, ANNOTATED AND ILLUSTRATED WITH ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY A MEDICAL STUDENT.

7 inches tall hardcover, publisher's brown cloth binding, embossed title to cover and spine, [4 publisher's ads], [6], 816 pp, covers worn, joints split but holding, handstamp of Jean Angles top of publisher's list, page edges browned, red and blue pencil underlinings throughout. LAID IN (most taped onto pages, some folding, several loose): 45 fine pencil or ink drawings, some with color, 5 lists, 1 folding table. Good in custom archival mylar cover. Testut's Precis d'Anatomie was first published in 1901 and was published until 1940 (15th edition). In his foreword, the author states that the book is simply an outline of gross anatomy for the medical student, and does not contain variations, anomalies, histology, or embryology. Illustrations are purposely omitted, because the book is written to promote committing to memory that which has already been learned. The author thanks two of his best students for their assistance in the preparation of the book. Given the wear evident on this copy, it is likely that many students benefited from the excellent illustrations meticulously produced by their talented colleague, Jean Angles.

LEO TESTUT (1849 – 1925) was a French physician and anatomist, born in Saint-Avit-Sénieur, Dordogne. He studied medicine in Bordeaux. His studies were interrupted because of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870; he was readmitted to the Bordeaux School of Medicine in 1878. He completed his studies with a thesis for which he obtained medals from several universities in France. He was named Professor of Anatomy of the Bordeaux School of Medicine and continued his investigations in anthropology in other universities. He contributed over 90 publications on anatomy, anthropology, prehistory and history, but his most noteworthy achievement has been as author of Traité d´anatomie humaine, a complete, well-written, and well-illustrated work of anatomy composed of four volumes that continues to be used in many countries to the present day. The illustrations present in this book continue to be a major source of reference to other anatomy books. The book is well known in medical schools, where it is considered the standard anatomy textbook. Testut collected the material published from personal notes and drawings after having failed anatomy exams several times during medical school, until he finally passed!