Flaxman, John (1755-1826; English) (after)
Anatomical Studies of the Bones and Muscles, for the Use of Artists… (London: M.Nattali, 1833; with prints by Henry Landseer & others)
Purchased 1857
State Library of Victoria [AEF 743 F61]
The illustrations comprise an etched portrait of Flaxman by M.de Clauson (1833), reproduced as the frontispiece, 18 lithographs after Flaxman’s anatomical drawings by Henry Landseer, and additional plates by William Robertson, an anatomist who also wrote the introductory text.
The SLV copy is well-thumbed, indicating frequent use, possibly by early NGV art school students. A catalogue entry on another copy in the Royal Academy notes that the text was used by students in the art schools at South Kensington (V&A).
Henry Landseer, recorded as active from 1809-25, predominantly as a landscape painter, was the uncle of Edwin Landseer, whose father John and brother Thomas were also engravers.
[photo: reproduction from another edition]
Refs.
MPL 1857, IV, p.6 (& MPL 1861, p.155)
See also SLV catalogue for details (not reproduced) For the RA copy, see https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/book/anatomical-studies-of-the-bones-and-muscles-for-the-use-of-artists-from (also noting the reference in the 1878 edition to art students using the book). For the edition from which the present reproduction is taken, see https://www.whipplelib.hps.cam.ac.uk/special/exhibitions-and-displays/anatomy-books/flaxman
For Henry Landseer, see Bénézit vol.8, p.400 (dates as noted above); see also https://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/correspondence/people/biog/?bid=Land_C&initial=L (entry on Edwin Landseer); and https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/portrait-of-henry-landseer-uncle-of-edwin (pencil drawing by Edwin Landseer, dated c.1815; with reproduction) [websites accessed 13 Feb.2021]