Gathering together photographs of stunningly realistic wax anatomies from Florence's Museo La Specola, Encyclopaedia Anatomica is a fascinating journey through the human body. Each chapter from the original volume is reduced here, though the most important views and studies have all been included.

From the eccentric Museo La Specola in Florence comes this amazing collection of waxworks depicting the human anatomy in all its dazzling complexity. The 27 wax bodies and 1500 part and organ studies that make up the museum’s collection are presented here; from skeletons to vein structures, organs to nerves, and arteries to the delicate pores of the skin, the human body is mapped out in meticulous and exacting detail. Texts explaining the human anatomy in laypersons’ terms and exploring the historical and cultural significance of the wax figures complete this “total body experience.”