Is My Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Quarto, Frankfurt 1628, printed at the expense of the English-born Frankfurt publisher William Fitzer; the imprint reads Francofurti, sumptibus Guilielmi Fitzeri, 1628
• The book is famously badly made and that is itself an identification aid: it was printed on thin, poor-quality paper (now browned in virtually every copy) in indifferent type by one of the licensed Frankfurt printers, and it is riddled with typographic errors
• Collation is 72 pp. plus one leaf, with two engraved plates illustrating the ligature experiments on the arm — the plates are the first thing to check, since they are frequently missing
• Because Harvey was in London and could not correct proofs, an errata leaf listing 126 corrections was issued; very few copies contain it, and it is argued that it was added only after much of the edition had been sold, so its absence does not condemn a copy while its presence is notable
• The edition was small and only about 68 copies are recorded as surviving, nearly all institutional
• References: Grolier Medicine 27

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
4. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

Frankfurt 1628 is the true first: an English author's landmark book first printed abroad, Fitzer being chosen through Harvey's connection to Robert Fludd, whose works Fitzer published. The second edition (Venice, 1635, issued with Emilio Parigiano's refutation) is fragmentary and lacks the plates, so it is not a substitute. The first edition in English is a separate collected book: The Anatomical Exercises of Dr. William Harvey... Concerning the Motion of the Heart and Blood (London: printed by Francis Leach for Richard Lowndes, 1653), with Zachariah Wood's preface — 1653 London is the English-language first and is collected alongside the 1628 Latin.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists in the ordinary sense, but two modern issues dominate donated copies and are routinely mistaken for the real thing: the Nonesuch Press limited edition, The Anatomical Exercises of Dr William Harvey... the first English text of 1653, newly edited by Geoffrey Keynes (1928, tercentenary), and later facsimiles/CD-ROM reproductions of the 1628. The 17th-century Leiden, Padua and Rotterdam reprints (e.g. Rotterdam: Arnold Leers, 1648, a small format with Jacobus de Back's Dissertatio) are also common and are later editions, not the first. A 1628 date, the Fitzer Frankfurt imprint, the poor paper and both engraved plates must all be present together.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus a first edition?

A first edition of Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus by William Harvey (Sumptibus Guilielmi Fitzeri) is identified by: Quarto, Frankfurt 1628, printed at the expense of the English-born Frankfurt publisher William Fitzer; the imprint reads Francofurti, sumptibus Guilielmi Fitzeri, 1628.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. Frankfurt 1628 is the true first: an English author's landmark book first printed abroad, Fitzer being chosen through Harvey's connection to Robert Fludd, whose works Fitzer published.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club edition exists in the ordinary sense, but two modern issues dominate donated copies and are routinely mistaken for the real thing: the Nonesuch Press limited edition, The Anatomical Exercises of Dr William Harvey... the first English text of 1653, newly edited by Geoffrey Keynes (1928, tercentenary), and later facsimiles/CD-ROM reproductions of the 1628. The 17th-century Leiden, Padua and Rotterdam reprints (e.g. Rotterdam: Arnold Leers, 1648, a small format with Jacobus de Back's D

I have a first edition of Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.