The Anatomy, Physiology, and Diseases of the Teeth
London: S. Highley, 1829. First edition.
Thomas Bell's The Anatomy, Physiology, and Diseases of the Teeth stands as one of the foundational English-language works on odontology, and this is a true first edition, printed in 1829 for S. Highley of Fleet Street, jointly with the Webb Street, Maze Pond school in Borough, and D. Lizars of Edinburgh. Bell was Lecturer on the Anatomy and Diseases of the Teeth at Guy's Hospital and Surgeon-Dentist to that institution — he later became Professor of Zoology at King's College London and is well known to naturalists as the author of the reptile volume from Darwin's Beagle voyage. This first edition predates the more commonly encountered later printings and represents the earliest statement of Bell's systematic, comparative-anatomical approach to dentistry, a significant departure from the largely trade-oriented dental literature that preceded it.
The work is arranged in two parts: the first treating the anatomy and physiology of the teeth — structure, chemical composition, formation, eruption of the temporary and permanent sets, irregularity, and the growth of the maxillary bones — and the second devoted to the diseases of the teeth and surrounding structures, including dental gangrene (caries), abscess, salivary calculus, diseases of the gums and alveolar processes, disorders of the antrum maxillare, extraction, and dental neuralgia. The volume is illustrated with finely engraved plates by C.J. Canton depicting individual tooth types, sections through crown and root, comparative dentition, and the articulation of the upper and lower jaws — plates that would go on to illustrate later editions of the work as well.
Condition & Binding: This is a period binding of quarter/half-calf (leather spine) over marbled paper boards, with gilt-ruled raised bands on the spine. The book is in poor structural condition: the front board is fully detached from the textblock, and the spine leather is heavily chipped, cracked, and worn with loss, exposing the spine bands. The corners and board edges show significant rubbing and wear, with the marbled paper scuffed and worn through in places. Internally, the text pages show scattered foxing and light staining/toning (heavier at the margins on some leaves), consistent with age, but the text block itself appears complete and the plates are present and intact with only minor toning/offsetting. Overall- poor. Item #927
Price: $200.00