Resources

Notes on the Health Sciences Library’s first-edition copy of De humani corporis fabrica libri septem

First written in 1543, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (On the fabric of the human body in seven books), by anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius, is considered the landmark text of modern human anatomy. In this book, Vesalius corrects many of the errors made by Galen of Pergamon, considered to be the authority on human anatomy for more than a thousand years.

The UNC Health Sciences Library’s first edition of De humani corporis fabrica libri septem contains numerous colored woodcuts, which are on display in this collection. The color was likely added by an early owner. Full-color woodcuts are on pages 1, 2, 163,164, 165, 474, and the printer’s device. The frontispiece is heavily colored. The verso of the frontispiece has a tipped-in portrait of Vesalius heavily colored with a dark black colored border. Other woodcuts have a blue or beige shading. The teeth in many woodcuts have been colored, possibly white but they are now brown or gray. The incipits are not colored.

Resources

There are many resources pertaining to Andreas Vesalius and his landmark 1543 anatomical text, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem. Please note that the resources listed here do not comprise an all-inclusive list of additional resources. If you have an additional resource you’d like to see listed, contact us.

Online Resources

 - British Library Online Gallery

 - Circulating Now (U. S. National Library of Medicine)

 - Historical Anatomies on the Web (U. S. National Library of Medicine)

 - Transforming Vesalius (Karger Medical & Scientific Publishers)

 - Vesalius's Anatomy (British Library)

 - Warnock Library

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Print Resources

Ball, James Moores. Andreas Vesalius, the Reformer of Anatomy. Medical science press, 1910.

Cavanagh, George Stanley. The Panorama of Vesalius : a “Lost” Design from Titian’s Studio. 1st ed. Athens, Ga.: Sacrum Press, 1996.

Cushing, Harvey. A Bio-bibliography of Andreas Vesalius. Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1962.

Hee, R. Art of Vesalius. Antwerp; Apeldoorn: Garant, 2014.

Lindeboom, Gerrit Arie. Andreas Vesalius and His Opus Magnum : a Biographical Sketch and an Introduction to the Fabrica. Nieuwendijk (N.B.): De Forel, 1975.

Oldfield, Philip. Vesalius at 500 : an Exhibition Commemorating the Five-hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Andreas Vesalius. Toronto, Ontario: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, 2014.

O’Malley, Charles Donald. Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, 1514-1564. University of California Press, 1964.

Roth, M. Andreas Vesalius Bruxellensis. G. Reimer, 1892.

Spielmann, M. The Iconography of Andreas Vesalius (André Vésale) Anatomist and Physician, 1514-1564 ; Paintings-pictures-engravings-illustrations-sculpture-medals, J. Bale & Danielsson, 1925.

Vesalius, Andreas. The Fabric of the Human Body : an Annotated Translation of the 1543 and 1555 Editions. Basel: Karger, 2014.

Vesalius, Andreas. The Illustrations from the Works of Andreas Vesalius of Brussels; with Annotations and Translations, a Discussion of the Plates and Their Background, Authorship and Influence, and a Biographical Sketch of Vesalius. World Pub. Co., 1950.

Vesalius, Andreas. The Illustrations from the Works of Andreas Vesalius of Brussels; with Annotations and Translations, a Discussion of the Plates and Their Background, Authorship and Influence, and a Biographical Sketch of Vesalius. Dover Publications, 1973.

Vesalius, Andreas. The Illustrations from the Works of Andreas Vesalius of Brussels : with Annotations and Translations, a Discussion of the Plates and Their Background, Authorship and Influence, and a Biographical Sketch of Vesalius. New York, N.Y.: Classics of Medicine Library, 1993.

Vesalius, Andreas. On the Fabric of the Human Body. Book I, The Bones and Cartilages : a Translation of De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem. San Francisco: Norman Pub., 1998.

Vesalius, Andreas. On the Fabric of the Human Body. Book II, The Ligaments and Muscles. San Francisco: Norman Pub., 1999.

Vesalius, Andreas. On the Fabric of the Human Body. Book III, The Veins and Arteries. Book IV, The Nerves : a Translation of De Humana Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem. Novato, CA: Norman Pub., 2002.

Vesalius, Andreas. On the Fabric of the Human Body. Book V, The Organs of Nutrition and Generation : a Translation of De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem. Novato, CA: Norman Pub., 2007.

Vesalius, Andreas. On the Fabric of the Human Body. Book VI, The Heart and Associated Organs. Book VII, The Brain : a Translation of De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem. Novato, Calif.: Norman Publishing, 2009.

Yale University. School of Medicine. Historical Library. The Four Hundredth Anniversary Celebration of the De Humani Corporis Fabrica of Andreas Vesalius. New Haven: The Historical Library, Yale University School of Medicine, 1943.