Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 298

ANDREAS VESALIUS (1514-1564) Chirurgia magna in septem libros digesta. Ex officina Valgrisiana 1569 [28] 745 ll., 23 plates. 15.8 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 280

Among the works which were published under the name of Andreas Vesalius there is one whose authenticity was questioned in early times, and it can now be stated that the book is certainly spurious (Arturo Castiglioni IN: Cushing Vesalius, p. 216). This is that very work and it was edited by Prospero Borgarucci (fl. 1560) who became professor of anatomy at Padua in the year of Vesalius' death. In 1567 he was appointed physician to the Queen of France but remained only a year after which he returned to Padua. It was while in Paris that he acquired the manuscript he later attributed to Vesalius. It is conceivable that what he purchased was, in reality, the class notes of some of Vesalius' pupils. The practice of publishing students' notes as posthumous works of famous teachers was common at the time and it may well be that Borgarucci prepared his work from just such a source. The book contains many errors, quotes from authors whose works were published after Vesalius' death, passages which cannot be attributed to Vesalius, and plates that were taken from the books of other authors.

Cited references: Cushing B504; Durling 4576; Osler 588 (1568 printing); Waller 1315 (1568 printing); Wellcome 985

Gift of John Martin, M.D.