Bourgery. Atlas of Human Anatomy and Surgery

Just too small to manage to actually read anything or make out the pictures

Make no mistake, this is a large scale, beautifully produced book. Unlike it's cheaper variant by the same publisher, this book has the weight of a quality production, with a hardcover and over 700 pages. The scale is significantly larger than A4 - think of a Times Atlas or something like that, but around 2 inches thick. On every page after the introductory material is a beautifully produced plate from the original 8 volume set, with a discrete key in three languages - French, English and German. For a number of plates, these have been placed on fold out sections, some quite large 3-part fold outs. I am astonished that the original of this book was produced in the 1830s to the 1850s when lithography was in its infancy - it must really have amazed those who saw it at the time. Of course, as an anatomy and surgical reference it is hopelessly out of date - look at Greys or Netters or Thieme for that. But as a present for a budding medical student, or simply as a coffee table curio, it is peerless. Impressively and carefully produced. My only minor quibble: the cover is full colour printed bookcloth (not glossy paper) on a creamy white cloth background. There is no dustcover, and grubby hands will soil this in no time, which would be a shame, as this in itself is a work of art. I've put some clear bookfilm over it as a dust jacket. In summary: worth every penny and then some.

It was great the paintings are beautiful and it’s a really interesting book. I recommend

Absolutely outstanding, I was awestruck by the beautiful imagery even as an artist myself! Such high quality pages and printing Taschen hit the ball out of the park! Would make a great Christmas present or large birthday present for a biologist or someone in the medical field!

Great book beautifully printed. Does not have labels on the drawings so you might need another book for referencing. But the illustrations are very clear and precise so you can really see what attaches to what. Love it!

Informative well illustrated book

Very popular with my surgeon and his team

Excellent book, fantastic images, great tool for my work. Thank you!