Stubbs, George

STUBBS, George (1724-1806). The Anatomy of the Horse. London: J. Purser for the author, 1766.
Oblong imperial broadsheets (454 x 590 mm). With the errata leaf at end present (often lacking). 24 finely engraved plates drawn and engraved by Stubbs (some foxing and browning). (Title-page and 'To the Reader' leaves creased, some offsetting from plates.) Contemporary boards (leather spine and corners renewed). Provenance: acquired from Paul Grinke, 1971.
FIRST EDITION OF THIS LANDMARK WORK IN THE STUDY OF EQUINE ANATOMY. Using the method devised by Albinus, Stubbs accurately reproduced the skeleton and musculature to produce the first comprehensive study of the anatomy of the horse since Carlo Ruini's Dell'anatomica, et dell'infirmita del cavallo published in 1598 (see lot 679). Stubbs's drawings for the plates were executed between 1756 and 1759, and were based on numerous dissections that he had performed himself, keeping each carcass in his studio for up to six or seven weeks. Once the drawings were finished, Stubbs unsuccessfully attempted to find an engraver, but many engravers felt the subjects of the plates fell beyond their knowledge, forcing him to engrave them himself over the following six years, thus effecting his transformation from an engraver of limited ability to one of great skill. When the work was published, it caused the artist "henceforth to be regarded primarily as an animal painter, whereas his previous provincia
The text was probably printed at the time of publication, but the plates appear to have been printed on demand as copies were sold, and copies with plates watermarked with dates from 1798 to 1827 are known; Lennox-Boyd notes that 'in copies ... issued in 1766, and in most of those sold in Stubbs's lifetime, both the letterpress and the plates were printed on laid paper', and in later copies the plates were printed on wove paper. EARLY ISSUE: this copy with the plates on laid paper, and containing the errata slip (pasted on verso of the last leaf), which is generally only found in early-issue copies. The paper stock of the plates in this copy corresponds with the paper stock of the copy in the Mellon collection with none of the plate-paper dated, and several watermarked "T. Dupuy, Auvergne."
Brunet V:571; Dingley Comben 600 (later issue, plates watermarked 1823); Eales Cole ... 1472-1800 1840; ESTC T147211; Garrison and Morton 308.1; Lennox-Boyd Stubbs, pp. 165-188; Mellon Books on the Horse and Horsemanship 57; Nissen ZBI 4027; Norman 2032 (later issue, plates watermarked '1798').