Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 512

THOMAS BARTHOLIN (1616-1680) Historiarum anatomicarum rariorum centuria I [-VI]. Typis academicis Martzani, Sumptibus Petri Hauboldt 1654-1661 Vol. I: [16] 360 [8] pp., [9] leaves of plates (2 fold.), illus. 15.4 cm.; Vol. II: [8] 430 [8] 45 [2] pp., [5] leaves of plates (1 fold.), illus. 15.4 cm.; Vol. III: [16] 386 [14] 32 pp., [8] leaves of plates. 14.8 cm.

Bartholin, a Danish physician, naturalist, physiologist, and anatomist, was one of several seventeenth-century researchers who greatly expanded knowledge of the working anatomy of various glands and their ducts, the biliary system, and the lymphatic system. Bartholin is commonly credited with the first description of the thoracic duct in man and Jean Pecquet (see No. 543 ff.) with recognizing it in animals a few years earlier. The son of Caspar (see No. 458), Thomas studied and traveled widely in Europe receiving his medical degree at Basel in 1645. He returned to Copenhagen in 1647 to accept the chair of mathematics and, a year later, the professorship of anatomy. In 1652 he demonstrated the thoracic duct in man and in 1653 he was successful in observing the human lymphatic vessels. Thereafter, he continued his academic pursuits and development of the medical school until 1663, when he retired from academic life to devote himself to writing, scientific, and literary pursuits. Bartholin was a prolific writer and maintained a large and active correspondence with numerous individuals throughout Europe. As a result of his great activity and interest in the natural and medical sciences, he performed many scientific investigations and experiments. The diversity of his letters, observations, and reports led him to assemble them from time to time for publication. The present set of anatomical observations is just such a collection and contains descriptions and illustrations of anatomical anomalies and normal structures, together with some brief case histories of unusual anatomical and clinical structures. The Centuria were published over a number of years and complete sets containing all the plates, such as this copy, are extremely rare. In addition to Bartholin's Centuria, the set contains Pauw's (see No. 401) Observationes anatomicae selectiores (1657) and Johan Rode's (1587-1659) Mantissa anatomica (1661) edited by Bartholin.

See Related Record(s): 543 458 401

Cited references: Cushing B118 (Centuria I-II); Cushing B119 (Centuria III-IV); Osler 1927 (Centuria I-II); Waller 737-739; Wellcome II, p. 107 (Centuria I-IV)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.