Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 449

MARCO AURELIO SEVERINO (1580-1656) De recondita abscessuum natura. Impensis Joannis Beyeri, typis Casparis Rôtelii 1643 2nd ed. [28] 468 (misnumbered 168) [46] pp., illus. 21.4 cm.

Severino was widely known and respected throughout Europe. His initial reputation was built on his excellence as a teacher and practitioner at Naples. Later, the success of his works on medicine, surgery, and of the present work firmly established him as one of the leading medical authorities of his day. He also played an important role in developing a rational basis for comparative anatomy, and his Zootomia democritaea, published in 1645, was the earliest comprehensive treatise on this subject. Severino was an active supporter of William Harvey (see No. 416 ff.) and carried on a wide international correspondence with many leading medical and intellectual figures of his time. This work, "The obscure nature of tumors," is one of the first illustrated texts of surgical pathology and establishes Severino as one of the pioneers in this field. The book's twenty plates are among the first to depict pathological lesions and to include diseased organs as well as complete views of the individual with the tumor. He includes all manner of tumors and swellings under the term "abscessus" and describes their surgical treatment in detail. In the chapter on breast neoplasms he delineates four types and differentiates quite clearly between the concept of benign and malignant tumors.

See Related Record(s): 416

Cited references: Cushing S202 (1st ed., 1632); Garrison-Morton 2273 (1st ed.); Waller 8890; Wellcome 5953 (1st ed.)