Anatomy
Anatomy, the cornerstone of medicine, assumed central importance in medical education with the institution of human dissection in fourteenth century Italy. Printed and illustrated anatomy texts soon supplemented university instruction. A notable early example of this literature is found in Johannes de Ketham's Fasciculus Medicinae (1491), a collection including Mondino dei Liuzzi's Anatomia (1316) and featuring one of the earliest images of an anatomy lesson. This was followed by a succession of remarkable and beautiful anatomical atlases over the next four centuries, many of which are found in the Dittrick rare book collection. These books are cataloged into the university library catalog see; http://catalog.case.edu/. Researchers who want to use our collections should consult our Research pages for policies and procedures.
Below you will find a small sampling of our extensive collection dating from the late fifteenth century.
Charles ETIENNE [Carolus Stephanus] (CA. 1505-1564) De Dissectione Partium Corporis Humani Libri Tres. Paris, Simon de Collines, 1545.This anatomical atlas, although drawn from dissection, did not reject Galenism as did the Fabrica of Vesalius. Published in both Latin and French editions its anatomical figures are set inside existing Renaissance woodcuts sometimes to startling effect. It is considered an example of pre-Vesalian anatomy even though it was printed two years after the Humani Corporis Fabrica. Our library has two copies of the Latin edition of 1545. One is a tall copy bound in contemporary vellum; the other is in modern vellum, decorated with musical notation and bearing the bookplate of the Cushing family. Andreas VESALIUS (1514-1564) . . . de Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem. Basel. Joannis Oporinus, 1555.The second edition of the Fabrica is considered the most elegant printing of this work. The first appearance of this atlas (1543) revolutionized our understanding of the human body by presenting human anatomy as observed through dissection and not as it was viewed through Galenistic doctrine. For the first time the body was presented in systems - skeletal, muscular, nervous system and the like and made visible by the brilliant woodcuts of the school of Titian and Jean of Calcar. Our copy is bound in a 16th century style sheepskin binding designed by Jan Sobota. It was given to the Cleveland Medical Library Association by Howard Kelly of Baltimore to be the first book in our library's collection. There are many other editions of the Fabrica in our anatomical collections. Rarest and most interesting perhaps is the pirated edition printed in London in 1545 by Thomas Geminus. Geminus copied the woodcuts onto copper engravings for the English market thus bringing the "new anatomy" and its revolutionary ideas to England within two years after its original publication.
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Books from the Pol Collection