Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 200

EUCHARIUS RöSSLIN (d. 1526) De partu hominis, et quae circa ipsum accidunt, adeoque, de parturientum & infantium morbis atque cura. Apud Chr. Egenolphum [1551] 62 [2] ll., illus. 14.1 cm.

When Roeslin published Der swangern Frauwen und hebammen Rosegarten in 1513, he had just become town physician and supervisor of midwives at Worms. Prior to that time he had lived in Freiburg and had been town physician at Frankfurt for several years. Roeslin remained at Worms until 1517 when he returned to Frankfurt and served there as town physician until his death. His son, also named Eucharius, succeeded him as town physician at Frankfurt. Because they had the same name and occupation, they have often been confused with each other or have been thought to be one and the same person. The Rosengarten was the first book written especially for midwives and it was written in the vernacular because those for whom it was intended were not conversant with Latin. The book is essentially a survey of the Greek and Roman literature and contains excerpts from such authors as Hippocrates, Galen, Aëtius, Albertus Magnus, and many others. In addition to obstetrics, Roeslin covers infant care, nursing, and the diseases of infancy. Illustrations of the birth chair, the lying-in chamber, and various positions of the fetus in utero are seen for the first time and are the earliest obstetrical illustrations printed from wood blocks. In this edition, the large woodcuts found in earlier editions are absent and many new figures have been added. Four woodcuts of the egg membranes and the placenta are from Vesalius' Fabrica (see No. 281). The book was first translated into Latin for Roeslin's son in 1532. An extremely popular and widely circulated book, it was translated into many languages and appeared in numerous editions until the late 1700s.

See Related Record(s): 281

Cited references: Durling 3902; Garrison-Morton 6138 (1513 ed.); Osler 3818 (1513 ed.); Waller 8091 (1513 ed.); Wellcome 5507 (1536 ed.)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.