Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 138

GABRIELE DE ZERBIS (1445-1505) Liber anathomie humani et singulorum membrorum illius. Per Bonetum Locatellum expensis heredum Octaviani Scoti 1502] [1] 198 (misnumbered 184) 20, 16 ll. 31.8 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 137

The most important of Zerbis' treatises are his Gerentocomia [sic] (see No. 137) and the present work. Considered to be the most complete and scholarly anatomy written to that time, it was extremely thorough and comprehensive. Zerbis relied heavily on Galen and organized the Anathomia in accordance with Aristotle's division of the body into three parts. The anterior part included the thoracic and abdominal cavities as well as the brain and genital organs, the posterior part covered spinal column and its nerves; and the lateral part included the extremities. Berengario (see No. 160 ff.) quotes Zerbis extensively in Commentaria . . . anatomia Mundini (Bologna, 1521), indicating that he relied heavily on the Anathomia and considered it an authoritative source. Although Berengario subjected Zerbis to a scathing personal attack in his Commentaria, he nevertheless recognized and gave credit to the former's expertise. Zerbis states that the uterus is a single cavity, describes the Fallopian tubes, mentions the nature of the stomach's muscle fibers, and gives a good account of the abdominal viscera. His last published essay, De generatione embrionis, follows the Anathomia and is one of the few specialized pre-Vesalian anatomical treatises. In it, Zerbis covers the stages of embryonic development based on animal dissections, the function of the semen in reproduction, formation of the heart, liver, and brain as well as fetal anatomy and natural birth.

See Related Record(s): 160

Cited references: Durling 4798; Waller 10470; Wellcome 6807

Gift of John Martin, M.D.