Click for Vesalius' biography
UPDATED: We have discussed many times on this blog the importance of Andreas Vesalius (1514 – 1564), his impact on modern science and anatomy, and the influence of his opus magnum publication in 1543, the Fabrica. The complete name of this publication is “De Humani Corporis Fabrica, Libri Septem” (Seven books on the structure of the human body).
Harvey Cushing wrote in his Vesalius bio-bibliography of 1943:”As a book, the Fabrica has been probably more admired and less read than any publication of equal significance in the history of science”.
The first (1543) and second (1555) editions of the Fabrica were published in Basel, Switzerland by Johannes Oporinus (1507 – 1568). With few exceptions, the Fabrica was sold as an unbound book and it was the owner’s responsibility to bind the book. One of the exceptions was the sumptuous purple silk-bound presentation copy delivered to the Emperor Charles V. As an interesting note, a Fabrica was discovered in Canada that was heavily annotated and as such had a low value. Who wants a book that of this importance that is so heavily hand-written? Analysis of the writing and style indicate that this copy belonged to Vesalius himself and was most probably the basis for a third edition that was never published. The annotations are used in the "New Fabrica" and if you are interested, here is a PDF file of a 2014 article on this topic.
Today we do not know how many books were actually printed as part of the first and the second edition of the Fabrica. Because of the time passed, lost or damaged books, during the last century efforts have been made to inventory the number of Fabricas still in existence, in studies made by Cushing in 1943 and Horowiz and Collins in 1984.The latest effort to account for the total number of these books was made by Stephen N. Joffe, MD, and Veronica Buchanan, MA in 2015 for both the 1543 and the 1555 editions of the Fabrica. Their papers were presented in February 2015 at the interdisciplinary symposium “Vesalius and the Invention of the Modern Body” in St. Louis, MO.
Dr. Joffe is the author of the book “Andreas Vesalius: The Making, the Madman, and the Myth”. Veronica Buchanan is the Archivist at the University of Cincinnati Henry R. Winkled Center for the History of the Health Professions.
The authors of these papers estimate that there are 64 complete copies surviving of the estimated 300 – 500 first edition printed in 1543. While a similar printing run is estimated for the 1555 edition, only 58 complete copies survive in the USA The papers can be read and downloaded on the following links:
"Updated Census in USA of First Edition of Andreas Vesalius’ ‘De Humani Corporis Fabrica’ of 1543”
READ DOWNLOAD
“An Updated Census of the Edition of 1555 of Andreas Vesalius’ De Humani Corporis Fabrica in the United States of America” READ DOWNLOAD
Note: The following link was sent to me by Dr. Elizabeth Murray and refers to the study by Joffe and Buchanan. The article “Accounting for an Historic Text” is from the University of Cincinnati Newsletter. Dr. Miranda
Sources
1. “Updated Census in USA of First Edition of Andreas Vesalius’ ‘De Humani Corporis Fabrica’ of 1543” Joffe, SN; Buchanan V. International Archives of Medicine; 2015: 8:1
2. “An Updated Census of the Edition of 1555 of Andreas Vesalius’ De Humani Corporis Fabrica in the United States of America” International Archives of Medicine; 2015: 8:1
3. Cushing, Harvey: A Bio-bibliography of Andreas Vesalius 2nd edition. Hamden: Conn.
4. Garrison, Daniel H., Hast, Malcom H.: Andreas Vesalius: The Fabric of the Human Body. Published S. Karger, Basel; 2014
5. "Andreas Vesalius; The Making, the Madman, and the Myth" Joffe, Stephen N. Persona Publishing 2009