Raynalde | The byrth of mankynd, otherwyse named the womans boke, [London], 1552, the Vander Poel copy

Thomas Raynalde

The byrth of mankynd, otherwyse named the womans boke. [London]: T. Raynalde, 1552

4to (168 x 122 mm), title-page with woodcut border, woodcut tailpiece and initials, a few early modern annotations, eighteenth-century tree calf, lacking first leaf (woodcut) and 4 leaves of engraved figures, title a little frayed and strengthened at margins and with library stamp, browning at top margins, some light spotting

Third edition of THE FIRST BOOK ON MIDWIFERY PRINTED IN ENGLAND. The first English translation was published in 1540.

PROVENANCE:

Presented to G.H. Haslop to Aylesbury General Infirmary Medical Library on 4 April 1836: presentation inscription and library stamp to title; purchased from Bernard Quaritch, London, 2 August 1949; Halsted Billings Vander Poel (1911-2003), his sale, Christie's New York, 3 March 2004, lot 11

LITERATURE:

STC 21155 (6 copies only)