Chovet was born in England and died in Philadelphia. He made many beautiful wax models to illustrate his lectures, and was among the first to popularize the use of wax and natural preparations in the teaching of anatomy, devices which he advocated in his Syllabus. The book gives an interesting picture of the methods employed in the teaching of anatomy in the mid 18th century. Chovet’s famous collection of models went to the University of Pennsylvania, where it later perished in a fire.