Although Cheselden is best known for his accomplishments in the field of surgery, he wrote two important books on anatomy. The above was for many years a textbook of the English medical schools and ran through 13 editions.

Cheselden was surgeon to St. Thomas’s Hospital and an outstanding figure in British surgery in the first half of the 18th century. The above work describes his method of performing suprapubic lithotomy, a method which he abandoned in 1727 for the lateral operation. Includes an English translation of Rousset on suprapubic lithotomy, from his book on caesarean section (No. 6236). Rousset laid out the basic principles of the operation although he did not perform it on a living subject. Biography of Cheselden by Sir Zachary Cope, 1953.

The versatile Cheselden made an artificial pupil in an eye in which the products of inflammation had closed or obscured the natural pupil. This iridotomy operation was, next to Daviel’s cataract operation, the most important contribution to ophthalmology during the 18th century.

This splendidly designed and illustrated work contained full and accurate descriptions of all the human bones, as well as many of animals. Cheselden is the first person to have used the camera obscura to gain precision in his illustrations, and the vignette on the title page shows him using this instrument. The engravings are beautifully executed by Van der Gucht. In 1720 Cheselden inaugurated lectures on anatomy and surgery at St. Thomas’s Hospital. See the paper by K. F. Russell, Bull. Hist. Med., 1954, 28, 32-49, which mentions a trial issue of the book, dated 1728. See also Russell, British Anatomy 1525-1800, 2nd ed., 1987. Facsimile reprint of the undated remainder issue printed without text, Philadelphia, 1968.

Cheselden’s lateral lithotomy first described in this brief paper by Alexander Reid. Digital facsimile from royalsocietypublishing.org at this link.