Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2019 The Basle environment at the time when the anatomies of Andreas Vesalius and Felix Platter were printed in Basle 1530 – 1600* Gloor, B P Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-186462 Journal Article Published Version Originally published at: Gloor, B P (2019). The Basle environment at the time when the anatomies of Andreas Vesalius and Felix Platter were printed in Basle 1530 – 1600*. Historia Ophthalmologica Internationalis, 2:276-299. www.histoph.com HISTORIA OPHTHALMOLOGICA INTERNATIONALIS JOURNAL FOR THE HISTORY OF OPHTHALMOLOGY AND OF VISION SCIENCES OFFPRINT ´S Balder P. Gloor AUTHOR The Basle environment at the time when the anatomies of Andreas Vesalius and Felix Platter were printed in Basle (1530 – 1600) 276 Front page of the 1543 edition of the Fabrica of Andreas Vesalius in the hand co- lored copy at Universitätsbibliothek Basel Universitätsbibliothek Basel, AN I 15, https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-20094 / Public Domain Mark 277 Hist Ophthal Intern 2019, Vol.2: 276-299 The Basle environment at the time when the anatomies of Andreas Vesalius and Felix Platter were printed in Basle 1530 – 1600* Balder P. Gloor Fig. 1 Depiction of the horizontal section of the eye on p. 699 of the 1543 edition of Vesals Fabrica (colo- red copy, Universitätsbibliothek Basel, AN I 15). The lens is in the center of the eye. Introduction The importance of the pictorial rep- resentations of the eye by Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) in 1543 and 1555 in “De humani corporis fabrica”1 (Fig. 1), and by Felix Platter (1536-1614) in 1583 in the second volume of his book on “De corporis humani structura”2 (Fig. 2) has already been covered sufficiently3,4. Fig.2: Depiction of the eye Vesalius’ work was revolutionary for the de- in Felix Platter’s velopment of scientific medicine. Twenty “Structura”. Figure I in Plate 4.9. Lens in the cor- years after the publication of Platter’s depic- rect position. The com- tion, Johannes Keppler (1571-1630) used it as mentary includes the a basis for his image of the eye5. Both following text: “The re- tina is the seeing tissue.” anatomical works were published in Basle. 1 VESALIUS (1543), Pl 73 Known in English as “The Fabrica” or “On the Fabric of the Human Body” Author’s address Prof. em. Dr. med. Balder P. Gloor 2 PLATTER FELIX ( 21603,) Text Vol. II p. 187, Fig. Eye Fig. I Moussonstrasse 2 from Plate 4.9 CH-8044 Zürich 3 KOELBING (1967), p. 71-74 Switzerland 4 WOLLENSAK (1916), p. 36-38) e-mail: [email protected] 5 KEPLER (1604, translation 2008), pp.73-296. *) This essay was presented in German at the XXIX convention of the Julius Hirschberg Gesellschaft in Heidelberg on 10 October, 2015 and will appear under the title Das Basler Umfeld zur Zeit des Druckes der Anatomien von Andreas Vesal und von Felix Platter in Basel 1530 – 1600 in the Mitteilungen der Julius-Hirschberg-Gesellschaft zur Geschichte der Augenheilkunde Vol. 17 (2015) (in print). I am thankful to Geraldine Diserens (Klingenweg 5, D-64397 Modautal-Brandau, Germany) for her professional English translation. 278 However, the immense importance Up to 1500, Paris and Venice were the leading and lasting impact of these works would seem cities for book printing. In Venice, Aldus to justify taking a look at the environment in Manutius (1449 to about 1515) had access to which they were published. Specifically, this manuscripts by Petrarch (gifted in 1362) and involves examining what was taking place in by Cardinal Bessarion (gifted in 1468). These printing and publishing, at universities, in comprised 482 Greek and 264 Latin medical faculties and in broader civil society manuscripts from the plunder of Con- from the pre-Reformation right up to the stantinople in 12049. turn of the century around 1600. Around the year 1500, Basle joined their ranks as an important city for printing and In this context, it is more important than the publishing that was their equal in terms of eye itself that Vesalius turned up at Oporin’s quality, but up to 1545 with a total of 3,514 printing house in Basle to supervise the print runs was never able to reach Venice’s printing of his “Fabrica”. Thus the focus of total of 11,332 titles, nor even those of Stras- interest shifts to Basle’s book printing and bourg with 4,903 and Cologne with 4,73610. publishing industry, which grew in impor- With the printing of Sebastian Brant’s (1458- tance during this time to rival those of Paris 1521) “Das Narrenschiff” in 1494 by and Venice. In this context, Thomas Platter, Bergmann von Olpe (born between 1455 and who among other things printed and pub- 1460, died on 20 February, 1532), came the lished the first edition of Calvin’s “Chris- book that was to be the most widely read in tianae religionis institutio” in 1536 together the German language until the time of the with Oporin, is far more important than his Reformation. son Felix. When Vesalius came to Basle and enrolled at the university there, the Faculty Amerbach, Froben and Petri and their of Medicine was just in the early throes of descendants awakening from a long torpor. Vesalius then Basle only really became important with gave a decisive boost to the teaching of printers and publishers Johannes Amerbach anatomy by holding a public necropsy, until (1440-1513), Johann Froben (1460-1527) and subsequently this faculty really flourished Johann Petri (1441-1511). under Johannes Huber, Felix Platter, Thomas Zwinger and Caspar Bauhin6, and all of this Johannes Amerbach studied in Paris under against a backdrop of many individual and Heynlin (1439-1496) and became a Doctor of extremely human stories. Philosophy, preacher, publisher and printer, After Johannes Gutenberg invented book from 1475 in Basle. He had learned the craft printing in 1450, printing was likely already of printing from Heynlin too, and later in being carried out in 1457 in Bamberg, in Venice as well. In Basle he associated with Jo- 1459/60 in Strasbourg, in 1464/65 in Cologne, hann Petri (1441-1511) and Johann Froben. in 1465 in Subiacco, a monastery near Rom, In three years of extremely hard work up to in 1467 in Rome itself, in Eltville near Mainz, 1506, Johannes Amerbach printed the com- in 1468 in Augsburg and at the same time in plete edition of the works of St. Augustine. To Venice, Nuremberg, Paris and in Switzerland do this, he needed to procure 20 tons of paper. at Beromünster Monastery. In Basle, book He also printed works by St. Ambrose and Pe- printing began in 1468 or 14707, thus about trarch. In collaboration with Froben, he pub- 20 years after Johannes Gutenberg’s pioneer- lished 3 volumes of Sebastian Brant’s ing work in Mainz. At the time, Basle had a population of about 10,0008. [Historical Dictionary of Switzerland], GND: 4004617-5 | Link: http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D7478.php – available 6 BURCKHARDT (1917), p. 322. only in French, German and Italian, not available in English 7 VAN DER HAEGEN (2001), p.20 9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Marciana 8 D’AUJOURD’HUI, MEYER in Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz 10 LEU (2016), p.55 279 “Corpus juris canonici” and the writings of Froben took him in. In the night of 11 to 12 Saint Jerome. It was left to Johann Froben July 1536, Erasmus died. On 12 July, he was (1460-1527), to complete this work. buried as a Catholic in Basle Minster. The Protestant Myconius, whom we will meet later, Froben played a significant role because he and who was now Antistes of the Reformed printed a large portion of the works of Eras- Cathedral in Basle, held the funeral oration.14 mus of Rotterdam (1469 – 1536). Erasmus At that time, Johann Petri (1441-1511) appears to have become well acquainted with made up the trio along with Amerbach and Froben in Basle through a rather random Froben. He reprinted with happy insou- contact. At that juncture, Froben had already ciance! He then printed the works of Saint experienced his fair share of the ups and Ambrose alone and had his own printing downs of book printing. He had reprinted one house from 1488. This became the parent of Erasmus’ works (without permission! – company of Schwabe, Europe’s oldest pub- which was common practice at the time, how- lishing house, which has now existed for ever), but in a form which had apparently more than 50015. Johann Petri’s nephew, pleased Erasmus greatly11. Thereafter, a life- long friendship developed between Erasmus Adam Petri (1454-1525) continued to run and Froben. A letter which Erasmus wrote to the business. It flourished with the publica- a Dutch friend bears eloquent testimony to tion of Luther’s treatises. In the end, the 80 this. It reads: Luther manuscripts and Melanchthon’s (1497-1560) writings formed a considerable “The untimely death of my friend Froben cast me into such deep despon- portion of Adam Petri’s oeuvre, which com- dency that no diversion was able to con- prised a total of about 300 printed works16. sole me … My grief was immeasurable, The printing of a treatise by Franciscan because the bond which fondness and monk Sebastian Hofmeister earned Adam mutual affection have forged binds Petri a lawsuit for defamation of the State of 12 more strongly than nature…” Lucerne in 1524.