A Handbook of Anatomy for Art Students

I agree with Paulybrooklyn. If one is willing to look past certain anachronisms, this book will be very useful. I recommend this book to those who have already committed anatomy to memory -- those who desire more in-depth coverage on how the anatomy affects the topography of the body -- accounting for the differences in gender and body type. For those who have Eliot Goldfinger's book, this text is a great companion. Be prepared for slight differences in nomenclature (e.g tensor fasciae femoris = tensor fascia lata... internus=medialis etc.)

This is an intriguing book for several reasons--first, it must pointed out that it contains some shocking statements about race that seem to be based on an odd hybrid of neoclassicism and social Darwinism. Skulls of different races (highly caricatured) are compared to Greek ideals using arcane measurements, and this becomes a springboard for a twisted argument about racial superiority that was, alas, probably quite maintstream during the 1920's. Additionally, many photographs of live models have been strangely doctored; the faces appear to have been painted over to resemble Greek classical sculpture, which, instead of looking beautiful, is rather grotesque... equally hideous (although understandable for the time) is the rubbing out of the models' genitals. That being said, the anatomical plates are beautifully drawn and numerous, with a great deal of useful information. Unlike many other books, photographs of models in bended and tensed poses are compared with diagrams that show the muscles in those same positions, depicting their contracted and expanded states. Also, this is the ONLY anatomy book I've ever seen that compares male and female antatomy in any depth, showing differences in proportion and skeletal structure (with particular attention to the pelvis). These are elements that Elliot Goldfinger's otherwise beautiful book are sorely lacking. For those reasons, this is a key book for any serious figurative artist.