{"id":4222,"date":"2026-03-19T21:09:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmcldev.wpengine.com\/mcgovern\/?p=4222"},"modified":"2026-03-20T16:20:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:20:33","slug":"de-humani-corporis-fabrica-the-crown-jewel-of-the-mcgovern-historical-center-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/2026\/03\/19\/de-humani-corporis-fabrica-the-crown-jewel-of-the-mcgovern-historical-center-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"De Humani Corporis Fabrica:\u00a0the\u00a0Crown Jewel of the McGovern Historical Center\u00a0Part One\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

By Kelsey Koym, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian at McGovern Historical Center<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Introduction<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Every year the McGovern Historical Center staff spends a week in the Rare Book Room during the Christmas season,\u00a0taking care of\u00a0administrative\u00a0and preservation\u00a0tasks. McGovern houses a valuable series of collections, and these tasks are prioritized to ensure the longevity of these historical artifacts. \u00a0We affectionally refer to this week as \u201cHolly Jolly Week.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The
[The Making of the Book Glamor Shots_01, December 17, 2026, Kelsey Koym and Katie Prentice]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This year the team decided to capture some of the rare books\u00a0in photographs. As the stewards of these collections, the photographs, or the book \u201cglamor shots\u201d as we began to call them, were an opportunity for us to share with the public some of\u00a0the remarkable history that is being preserved by McGovern.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Cover
[Vesalius_Front Cover 03, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem, McGovern Historical Center]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The subject of this blog post and the\u00a0photographs\u00a0shared here\u00a0are from one of McGovern\u2019s most prized possessions:\u00a0De Humani Corporis Fabrica\u00a0Libri Septem\u00a0(De Humani)<\/em>, or \u201cOn the Fabric of the Human Body in Seven Books\u201d by Andreas\u00a0Vesalius.\u00a0To say this work revolutionized\u00a0anatomy\u00a0would not be charitable to the impact this volume has had on the history of human medicine.\u00a0This is the first post out of three\u00a0that will detail information about McGovern\u2019s first edition copy of Andreas Vesalius\u00a0anatomical volume.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Bibliographic Background<\/strong>  <\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

McGovern\u2019s copy is an original, first edition, supervised by Vesalius himself, published in 1543. The work was the product of the press of Johannes Oporinus in Basel, and Vesalius oversaw the printings of these copies himself (Marg\u00f3csy et al., 2018). The work served a two-fold purpose: dissection manual and anatomical atlas.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Vesalius_Andy
[Vesalius_Andy Octava_Against Wall, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem, McGovern Historical Center]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

McGovern\u2019s 1543 copy of\u00a0De Humani<\/em>\u00a0is incredibly well preserved for a book that is\u00a0nearly 500\u00a0years old.\u00a0Although the book does not have its original binding, it is believed that the current binding is 17th<\/sup>\u00a0century calfskin according to a letter that came with it (Schuman,\u00a0circa 1953).\u00a0The 1543 edition of De Humani<\/em> typically includes\u00a0approximately\u00a0660 pages\u00a0(depending on\u00a0the\u00a0copy)\u00a0with over 200\u00a0woodcut\u00a0illustrations (Joffe & Buchanan, 2015).\u00a0McGovern\u2019s copy is\u00a0692 pages\u00a0(346 leaves) according to Tara Sims, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, who performed the first collation and foliation of the text this year.\u00a0The first editions\u00a0of\u00a0the 1543\u00a0De Humani\u00a0<\/em>are\u00a0sold for\u00a0nearly $400,000\u00a0today (Marg\u00f3csy\u00a0et al., 2018, p. 1).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Different copies of the 1543 edition of De Humani <\/em>have unique annotations or features. This is due to each copies’ provenance. For example, McGovern’s copy has an inscription on\u00a0the frontispiece that states, \u201cUt ad\u00a0Historie\u00a0fidem\u00a0Geographia, sic ad rem\u00a0Medicam\u00a0corporis humani\u00a0descriptio\u00a0pernoscenda.\u201d When translated this means, \u201cAs geography is essential for historical truth, so the description of the human body is essential for medical knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"As
[Vesalius_Frontispiece Quote, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem, McGovern Historical Center]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For the most thorough writing on the\u00a0first editions of\u00a0De Humani<\/em>\u00a0and where they are around the world, please check out The\u00a0Fabrica\u00a0of\u00a0Andreas\u00a0Vesalius\u00a0: A Worldwide Descriptive Census, Ownership, and Annotations of the 1543 and 1555 Editions<\/em> by\u00a0Marg\u00f3csy\u00a0et al. (2018).\u00a0According to this Census there are approximately 300 copies of the 1543 edition currently in existence (Marg\u00f3csy\u00a0et al., 2018, p. 3).\u00a0The Census not only provides information about where the publicly available copies of the 1543 and 1555 editions are located; it provides information about what these copies have meant to its readers by analyzing copies’ unique annotations and provenance. What\u00a0Marg\u00f3csy\u00a0et al. (2018)\u00a0emphasize\u00a0in their worldwide\u00a0Census is that this book is not just about anatomy but about power (p.1).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Historical Context of Vesalius Work<\/strong> – the Early Modern Period<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Vesalius\u2019 anatomical textbook <\/em>both challenged the past thousands of years of scientific history and was a landmark for how surgery would be studied for the next several centuries. Before Vesalius, the primary theories regarding anatomy were dominated by the works and translations of Galen of Pergamon. These theories were pervasive even up until a century after Vesalius would publish De Humani <\/em>(Nutton, 2026).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Vesalius\u00a0in many ways challenged\u00a0the Galenic theories of anatomy.\u00a0Although Vesalius would not totally abandon the \u201chumoral theory\u201d of medicine, his dissections and research would\u00a0start to\u00a0chip away at the stronghold\u00a0both the\u00a0Galenic\u00a0and humoral theories had\u00a0in the scientific world.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"First
[Vesalius_First page of first chapter, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem, McGovern Historical Center]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At the time of Vesalius\u2019 education and work, the scientific and artistic worlds were changing. The year Vesalius was born was the beginning of the early Renaissance. Power was shifting. It was a time of major metamorphosis of societal organization and scientific knowledge. A deeper dive into this shift will be given during the third part of this series, where a biographical sketch of Andreas will dig into this period of history. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For this first part in the series it is important to understand that what made\u00a0Vesalius\u2019 work so different from the past thousands of years, is that he\u00a0would perform dissections himself on human\u00a0cadavers.\u00a0This\u00a0was considered for centuries to be highly taboo.\u00a0Human dissections\u00a0went against both religious and cultural\u00a0norms.\u00a0The Catholic church at the time considered the use of a knife on a corpse to be a desecration\u00a0(Keeton, 1936, p. 103).\u00a0In the early fourteenth century there were those who would open the door to Vesalius for his human dissections. These men included Mondino, Leonardo da Vinci, Berengarius de Carpi, and Sylvius, Vesalius’ medical professor at Paris (Keeton, 1936, p. 101).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Vesalius_Pig
[Vesalius_Pig Dissection on Table, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem, McGovern Historical Center]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Galen had formulated his theories based on animal dissections, which left a lot to be discovered and remedied during Vesalius work, and Andreas Vesalius would mention Galen and Hippocrates many times throughout\u00a0De Humani.\u00a0<\/em>Throughout Vesalius text you will see depictions of\u00a0the bones and the dissections of\u00a0monkeys, pigs,\u00a0and\u00a0dogs.\u00a0These dissections are intermixed with the human dissections\u00a0to demonstrate visually and in the Latin text, the differences found among Vesalius’, Galen\u2019s, and Hippocrates’ theories of the body.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Vesalius_Human
[Vesalius_Human with Dog Skull_Cropped, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem, McGovern Historical Center]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Vesalius not only was writing a work on what the human body contained, but\u00a0De Humani\u00a0<\/em>was secondarily an instruction manual for how to carry out dissection. There are even historiated initials in the chapters of De Humani<\/em> with Putti (cherubs), who demonstrate how to prepare human bodies for dissection. Information in Vesalius work also includes what tools were to be used for dissection. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Vesalius_Dissection
[Vesalius_Dissection Tools and Table_Cropped, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem, McGovern Historical Center]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What Vesalius did in De Humani can be summed up by Toledo-Pereyra (2008), \u201cAndreas Vesalius took anatomy in all its complexity and transformed it into an incredible and interesting new medical discipline by systematically arranging and illustrating bones, muscles, veins, arteries, organs, and their intricate interrelationships (p. 232).\u201d Vesalius would have a figure illustrated with several \u201clayers\u201d pulled from the body, and create a discreet numbering system, where there would be an accompanying key on the page next to the figure.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Vesalius_Andy
[Vesalius_Andy Sexta, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem, McGovern Historical Center]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In the next blog post, I will discuss the provenance of McGovern\u2019s copy of Andreas Vesalius\u2019 anatomical atlas and textbook and what this investigation involved. In the final and third part of this series, I will discuss the life of Andreas Vesalius, the world he grew up in, and probe further into the artistic interpretations of the illustrations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

References<\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Joffe, S. N. & Buchanan ,V. (2015). Updated Census in USA of First Edition of Andreas Vesalius\u2019 \u2018De Humani Corporis Fabrica\u2019 of 1543. International Archives of Medicine 8<\/em>(23). 1-17. doi: 10.3823\/1622 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Keeton, M. (1936). Andreas Vesalius: His Times, His Life, His Work. Bios, 7(2), 97\u2013109. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/4604123<\/a> <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Marg\u00f3csy, D., Somos, M., & Joffe, S. N. (2018). The fabrica of andreas vesalius : A worldwide descriptive census, ownership, and annotations of the 1543 and 1555 editions. BRILL. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Nutton, V. (2026, January 6). Galen. Encyclopedia Britannica. https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Galen <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Schuman, I. (circa 1953). Immortale Opus<\/em>. [Letter from Ida Schuman to Dr. Hampton C. Robinson][Letter]. McGovern Historical Center, Texas Medical Center Library. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Toledo-Pereyra L. H. (2008). De Humani Corporis Fabrica surgical revolution. Journal of investigative surgery : the official journal of the Academy of Surgical Research, 21(5), 232\u2013236. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/08941930802330830<\/a> <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kelsey Koym, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian at McGovern Historical Center Introduction Every year the McGovern Historical Center staff spends a week in the Rare Book Room during the Christmas season,\u00a0taking care of\u00a0administrative\u00a0and preservation\u00a0tasks. McGovern houses a valuable series of collections, and these tasks are prioritized to ensure the longevity of these historical artifacts. […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":4240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,86,9,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exhibits","category-featured","category-images","category-rare-books"],"authors":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}