Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 233

JAKOB RUEFF (1500-1558) De conceptu et generatione hominis. [Apud Georgium Corvinum, impensis Sigismundi Feyerabendii 1580] [5] 100 [1] ll., illus. 19.3 cm.

Lithotomist, surgeon, obstetrician and playwright, Rüff settled in Zurich about 1525 where he served as town physician and taught at the university. He should not be confused with Walter Hermann Ryff (fl. 1539) whose plagiarism of Roeslin's "Rosengarten" (see No. 200) first appeared in 1545. Rüff published his book in both German and Latin in 1554. Trostbuchle and De conceptu et generatione hominis came into wide use, were frequently reprinted, and were translated into English in 1637. A comprehensive handbook, the treatise opens with a discussion of conception, development, and nutrition of the fetus. The anatomy of the uterus and a set of precepts for pregnant women are followed by a section on parturition including care of the mother and infant. Rüff describes and illustrates two instruments for dilating the cervix and a smooth and toothed forceps for delivering the dead fetus. He was perhaps the first to suggest that forceps could be used for delivering a live baby. Fifteen forms of unnatural presentation of the baby are discussed and each is illustrated by a woodcut in which the infant is depicted as a grown child. False pregnancies, uterine diseases and neoplasms, monsters and physically defective infants, the treatment of miscarriages, the signs of conception, and the causes of sterility are also presented along with recommendations for the appropriate remedies. The book is very well illustrated with depictions of the birth stool, birth and lying-in rooms, monsters, instruments, anatomy of the female urogenital system, and fetal presentations at birth. This is the first edition to include the woodcuts of the noted book illustrator, Jost Amman (1539-1591). The Swiss-born Amman was one of the most industrious and productive engravers of his day and was especially noted for his Biblical scenes. In some instances, Rüff has taken his illustrations from Roeslin and Ryff as well as Vesalius (see No. 280 ff.), whom he acknowledges in the text.

See Related Record(s): 200 280

Cited references: Cushing R306; Durling 3981; Garrison-Morton 463 (Zurich, 1554); Waller 8301 (Zurich, 1554); Wellcome 5611 (Zurich, 1554)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.