Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 372

FELIX PLATTER (1536-1614) De corporis humani structura et usu. Ex officina Frobeniana, per Ambrosium Frob. 1583 [8] 197 [6] 50 pp., 50 plates. 28.9 cm.

A native of Basel, Platter studied medicine at Montpellier where he received his bachelor's degree in 1556. After graduation and a year's study and travel in France and Germany, he returned to Switzerland where he passed his doctorate examination at the early age of twenty-one. Subsequently he was appointed professor of medicine at the university and was also elected city physician in 1571. He remained city physician until his death and was successful in developing the medical school into one of the strongest and finest in Europe. Platter is credited with performing the first public dissection of a human body in a Germanic country and is said to have dissected over 300 bodies during his career. He was widely respected as a teacher and was a physician of great courage who remained in Basel to treat the sick on five occasions when the plague struck the city. As one of the early nosologists, he recognized three classes of diseases based on their natural history and postmortem findings, and distinguished four types of mental illness. The present work is Platter's first book and was designed primarily for the student. Platter's interest in making his book easy to use is evident when examining the book's arrangement. The plates were placed together in a separate section to eliminate the need to go through the entire volume to find an illustration. In addition, the author thoughtfully placed the explanation for each plate on the opposite page so the reader wouldn't have to turn the page. All but two of the plates are after Vesalius' (see No. 280 ff.) illustrations in the Fabrica (see No. 281), Platter freely acknowledges the superiority of Vesalius' work and, at the beginning of Liber tertius, describes how he, Platter, found it necessary to have them re-engraved to fit the format of his book. A second edition of the book was published in 1603.

See Related Record(s): 280 281

Cited references: Choulant-Frank, p. 216; Cushing P310; Cushing Vesalius VI.D.-21; Durling 3683; Waller 7504; Wellcome 5084

Gift of John Martin, M.D.