2 vol. in-f° (36,5 cm). [28] ff, 910 pp ; [18] ff (index), 124 pp (verklaring van de platen). Tussen 1ste en 2de dl. ontbreken zoals steeds pp. 363-366. Nederlandse en Latijnse titelpagina, in rood en zwart, in elk deel. Tekstbezorging door Herman Boerhaave (1668 - 1738) met een Latijnse vertaling van H.D. Gaubius (1705 - 1780) en een uitvoerige levensbeschrijving van de auteur door Boerhaave. Geïllustreerd met 53 uitslaande platen (Romeins genummerd), gegraveerd naar Swammerdams eigen minutieuze pentekeningen die thans nog bewaard worden in de universiteitsbibliotheek van Leiden. Gebonden in half kalfsleder uit de tijd, ruggen met 7 nerven, hoeken beschadigd, gewreven
Eerste editie. Dit werk geldt nog steeds als de grondslag voor de moderne kennis van de natuurlijke historie der insecten, hun classificatie en metamorfosen.
Ref. Nissen, ZBI, 4055; Lindeboom 566; Cole, Comparative anatomy, p.270-305; Dibner, Heralds, 291; Hagen II, p.209; Horn-Schenkling 2197 ""Despite a scientific career that lasted only a dozen years, Swammerdam was one of the outstanding comparative anatomists of the 17th century. His most remarkable work was in the field of insect anatomy. By refining his techniques of microdissection, Swammerdam was able to illustrate for the first time the complex internal structures of insects, including their reproductive organs; and to demonstrate the gradual development of an insect's adult form throughout all its larval stages. These observations are ""indubitably the foundation of our modern knowledge of the structure, metamorphosis and classification of insects"" (Cole, p.285). In addition, Swammerdam performed valuable investigations of crustaceans, mollusks and frogs, and was the first to prove experimentally that muscles do not increase in bulk when contracted via nerve stimulation. The Biblia naturae, Swammerdam's major work, was published fifty-seven years after his death by Herman Boerhaave, who assembled it from unpublished manuscript materials integrated with a slightly revised version of Swammerdam's Historia insectorum generalis (1669). Boerhaave's biography of the author, which prefaces the work, remains the chief published source of information about Swammerdam's life. The book's fifty-three copperplates were prepared under Swammerdam's direction from his own drawings.
