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Two Bibliographical Treasures in the National Library. Andreas D Two bibliographical treasures 3DN3I V 1 2 in the National Library. 1 V. Andreas Vesalius, the anatomist of the Renaissance eN Luis Roberto Torres Escalona* ~Me Genius survives; everything else perishes. ANDREAS VESALIUS he Renaissance is one of the most luminous peri- ods in the history of the Tarts and sciences. Yet aboye all, it was the moment when man was "reborn" and freed his spirit from the old religious dogmatism under whose sway he had lived for so long. Freedom of the spirit nour- ished freedom of thought. There was a definitive break between the sacred and the profane; now noth- ing could stop the birth of the scien- tific spirit. Everywhere there was a flourishing of workshops and guilds where the new science was prac- ticed. History brought forward such figures as Nicolaus Copernicus, Ga- lileo, Kepler, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Giordano Bruno, Mi- chael Servetus and Andreas Vesalius, among others. One of this period's signal Vesalius' De humani corporis fab- Reserve Fund holds two editions works is, without a doubt, Andreas rica libri septem (Seven Books on of this work: one printed in Basel the Construction of the Human in 1555 by Johannes Oporinus, * Researcher at UNAM's Department Body). The National Library's and the other in Venice by E of Artistic and Cultural Assets. 35 VOICES of MEXICO • 34 Senefem and Johannes Criegher De humani corporis fabrica The first book deals with bones in 1568. is a folio volume. It consists of and cartilage; the osteology (stu- Vesalius was the highest rep- seven books covering the analysis dy of bones) printed in this sec- resentative of modern anatomy. of the entire structure of the tion is excellent. The second has He gained this distinction by con- human body. Its didactic charac- to do with muscles and ligaments, travening the noli me tangere of ter is extraordinary, not only be- and the dissection instrtunents used the teachings of Claudius Galen, cause of the engravings it con- at that time are featured at the which had prevailed during the tains but because of the many end of this book. The following Middle Ages. Today it is still strik- synoptic charts and marginal book covers the circulatory appa- ing to learn that this mission was summaries which assist in the ratus, with drawings that may right- fulfilled by a man who was only comprehension of the volume's ly be characterized as perfect and 28 years old. contents. served as the starting point for angiology (the branch of anato- ANDREAE my related to the organs of blood circulation). The fourth and shortest book YESALII. is devoted to the nerves. It is gen- BRVXELLENSIS, erally accepted that the descrip- INVICTISSIMI C AROLI V. IMP. tion follows the fines set forth by mEDIC 1, Galen and the Italian anatomist Mondino da Luzzi. The fifth DE FI PMAN1 CO`k_7'02V .S FAZ7 1,C. covers the abdominal and genital E r B S E T T E M. organs. The sixth book examines Cum Indice rerum& uerhrummemoraMitim ,locupletifim o . the organs of the thorax; its most °E121212a& interesting feature is the cryptog- raphy hidden among the shading in the various drawings. The sev- enth and final book analyzes the brain and the sense organs. At the end of this volume Vesalius describes his experiences with vivi- section (surgical operations car- ried out on animals in order to study physiological phenomena); this section may be considered the first treatise on experimental physiology. With regard to the illustra- V E N E T I I S, tions which grace this work, Apud Francifcum Francifcium Senenfcm, IoannemCriegher Gennanum. Vesalius is believed to be the author M D LX .VIILIBLIOTICA NACIONAL of the simple drawings, while the mtXICO anatomical details of some fig- ures, as well as the cover and the 36 SCIENCE, ART AND CULTURE portrait of Vesalius, are attributed ,AND. VLS..4L11 DE cozPoFeli to John Stephan Calcar. However, PRIMA there are those who maintain that TI l'JC i'L RVAI TA• the frontispiece of the 1555 edi- B VLA , tion was made by B. Vitalis and that Tiziano is the author of the most exact drawings. The partici- pation of Domenico Compagnola is inferred from the landscapes. One of De humani corporis fabrica's most fascinating plates is the frontispiece or cover, which depicts a dissection scene taking place in an amphitheater surround- ed by a peristyle with seven Corinthian columns. Two Cupids bear the Vesalius family crest, and at the sides an old man and a youth symbolize the past and pre- sent, the ancient and new worlds. The central figures are Andreas Vesalius himself and the cadaver of a woman, whose abdominal organs are exposed. In the center of the engraving a skeleton pre- sides over the dissection. This is not for decorative effect; instead, it is in line with Vesalius' concep- tion that the starting point for anatomical studies should be the bones. Most of those depicted as attending this demonstration have been identified, among them Luther, Tiziano, John Stephan Calcar Louvain, Montpellier and Paris. Realdo Colombo, Charles V, Joachim and Johannes Oporinus. At the age of 23 he settled in Cameranus, Paracelsus, Hieronymus Andreas Vesalius was born in Padua, where he taught anatomy Cardan, Philip Melanchton, Martin Brussels in 1514 and studied in and carried out the first dissec- tions of cadavers. As previously noted, this went against the asser- De humani corporis fabrica is a folio volume. tions of Claudius Galen, which It consists of seven books covering the analysis were considered the ruling canon and had been enshrined as dog- of the entire structure of the human body. mas by the Church. 37 VOICES of MEXICO • 34 In 1543, the year it was first inaccuracies were due to the fact Root, the anatomist held forth, with published, De humani corporis that many of his studies had been a certain degree of vanity, on some fabrica was met with a veritable carried out on animals, while ob- of the controversial points of his storm of controversy: the scien- servations of real human anatomy celebrated study: "People should tists of the day, with Dubois in had been scarce or indeed non- be thankful to me for having been the lead, rose up as one to defend existent. the first to dare to attack the false Galen's postulates. Vesalius main- In a text written after Fabri- opinions of man, to unveil the de- tained that Galen's errors and ca and entided Letter on China} ceptions of the Greeks and to give our contemporaries an unprece- dented opportunity to seek the truth. Yet this is not the case, since, due to Galen's authority, you will find many who, after a merely su- perficial look at my studies and without having studied cadavers, still maintain that everything Galen ANDREAE VESALII BRVXELLENSIS, INVI- wrote is correa." ifsimi CAROLI V.Imperatoris medici, de Humani corporis During Vesalius' era anatomy fabrica Libri feptem. was considered a philosophical- humanistic discipline. It was as a result of his studies that it became a pragmatic science. Vesalius practiced medicine at the court of Charles V for fif- teen years. Yet it appears that his anatomical studies and sympathy for the Reformation led to his being condemned to death by the Inquisition during the reign of Philip II. It is said that he succeed- ed in having the sentence com- muted by making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. On his return he was beset by a serious illness, which led to his death in 1564 on Zan- te, one of the Ionian Islands. In recognition of these vol- umes' history, uniqueness and beau- ty, the General Property Office and C r hl C S .Mdirít. Calbilnon S. 111.r rex, the Department ofArtistic and Cul- dip~mari arundrm (entinen, • • • 11111111111111181111,i'..s ,' tural Assets present them to the uni- /2'1 VS II- P R 10..12\IN E .1( (FP O R versity community and the public t. 2 at large..:41 38 .
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