Guilielmi Harvei Doct. & Profess. Regii Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis & Sanguinis

This little volume would fit in one’s palm, and yet it is one of the most significant medical rare books ever. It contains the first scientific description of the cardiovascular system, provides proof for the circulation of the blood, and has fundamentally changed all conceptions about the functions of the heart and the blood vessels. The author of the book is William Harvey, who published his findings first in 1628 in a quarto-size edition; our copy is the 1648 first Rotterdam edition. A stellar cardio classic, this book pointed the way to the reform of physiology and medicine by the middle of the seventeenth century.