Vesalius' Anatomy Collection

Vesalius’ De humani corporis fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body) represents a major turning point in the history of western medicine. Originally published in the mid-sixteenth century, On the Fabric of the Human Body disputed contemporary understandings of human anatomy that had remained unchanged since antiquity. Vesalius’ work was based on careful study of human cadavers, exemplifying a new methodological approach to human anatomy rooted in scientific observation.

Like his contemporaries, Vesalius wrote in Latin. Despite its long history, English translations of On the Fabric of the Human Body are somewhat recent. From 1999 through to 2009, scholars William F. Richardson and John B. Carman published the first full English translation of On the Fabric of the Human Body in five volumes. Bracken Health Sciences Library has collected this translation. Browse the collection through Omni.

In addition to the Bracken collection, the library owns a sixteenth century edition of De humani corporis fabrica libri septem located at Jordan Rare Books and Special Collections.