Author: RUYSCH, FR.- autograph letter.- 1730.-
Title: Small autograph letter of a personal nature, dated 19 June 1730, when Frederik Ruijsch was already 91 years old. Discussing a 'present'[Gift?].
Description: Amsterdam, autograph, 1730. 19 Juni. 8vo. [Meas. appr. 10.5 x 16 cm]. 1 leaf, personal letter in brown ink on recto only. 1 horizontal fold. (Verso blank). (Paper not watermarked . (Fair to good quality paper, the edges some brown discol., some soiling; a small hole to lower left; a brown spot top center. None of these small defects affect the legibility of the written surface.). (14 lines of text; signed 'Fr Ruijsch'). Luuc Kooijmans, De Doodskunstenaar (Bert Bakker, Amst., 2004): DMB, c. 1700 - 1704: Frederik Ruysch [ 1638 - 1731] very important and influential surgeon and anatomist of the 17th century. Manuscript material pertaining to Ruysch is notably rare and not often on the market. This small letter, dated 19 June 1730, was written when Ruysch was 91 years of age and 8 months before his death. 'On 29 September 1666 Ruysch was appointed praelector chirurgiae et anatomiae at Amsterdam. He attended the session of the Guild on 12 January 1667 and held the post until his death in 1731. It included the teaching of anatomy to apprentice surgeons in the Guild and the delivery of public anatomical demonstrations. ... In 1679 Ruysch was appointed doctor to the court of Justice. On 24 March 1685 he was appointed supervisor of the botanical garden ... Ruysch edited a catalogue of the plants in the Garden. [published in collaboration with Kiggelaar from 1697 - 1701': Ruysch remains, however, best known for his work in anatomy and surgery and especially for his technique of preserving anatomical preparations, using a secret process of injecting a liquid into the vessels, a secret formula revealed to Rieger after Ruysch's death proved to contain a mixture of talcum, white wax and cinnaber. The famous collection of preparations compiled by Ruysch [919 items] was bought by Czar Peter in 1717 for 30.000 guilders. See: Driessen van het Reve / Otto Bleker {eds.], Geloof alleen je eigen ogen. Een actuele kijk op de anatomische preparaten van Fredrik Ruysch (1638 - 1731), publ. 2017 by Lias publishers, Amsterdam? The small letter offered here, written just 8 months before his death [ Febr. 22, 1731]. Transcript: 'Clarissime / Daar ik lang na verlangt heb, is me nu/ eerst geworden: Een Present, alleen waardig aan/ haar, die soo man haftig voor de saken des / haaren [?] ....? uijtkomt, soodanig... Abicad? / Obadraad en? wordest? ende ... maar het is een Caussa sine qua non/, het Present is Swaar, soo seer wel niet in gewigt /'s ? swaarheyt, dat ge het self of U seer hoogwaarde vader, of byden het gelyk .. het s.../ af te halen : Hises Omnia Fausta/ Totius Tuus/ [helemaal de Uwe..]

Keywords: postmortum manuscripts autopsy autographs medicine 17th Brk letters Marriott2019 ordnerBrk