‘Addicted to the opening of heads’

Abstract

Chapter 6: ‘Addicted to the opening of heads: Cerebri anatome (1664–1683)’ provides a detailed bibliography, using the system described in chapter 4, of thirteen copies of Willis’s second published book in which are included two treatises: 4. Cerebri anatome; and 5. Nervorum descriptio et usus. These are the first of Willis’s treatises to be illustrated; of the twenty-three images engraved on fifteen printers’ plates, some are the work of Christopher Wren. The descriptions of these publications are preceded by a narrative highlighting the main bibliographic issues that characterize the various editions, states, and issues of these copies. Of these, some are already known but others are newly identified. {109 words}