An Urge to Correct: Andreas Vesalius Revised

Speaker: Prof Vivian Nutton (University College London)

The De humani corporis fabrica of Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) is the most famous of all books on anatomy. Its artistic brilliance and its insistence on human, not animal, dissection as the basis for understanding the body has ensured that the work has an honoured place in all major libraries.

Less attention has been paid to the revised 1555 edition, while the recent discovery of his annotations for a further unpublished edition, as well as the existence of further revisions to his revision of Gunther von Andernach’s Institutiones anatomicae, have thrown new light on the man and on his relationship with his Basle publisher, Oporinus.

This talk discusses Vesalius’ activities as reviser and corrector over his career as a Galenic anatomist.

Speaker: Prof Vivian Nutton (University College London)

The De humani corporis fabrica of Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) is the most famous of all books on anatomy. Its artistic brilliance and its insistence on human, not animal, dissection as the basis for understanding the body has ensured that the work has an honoured place in all major libraries.

Less attention has been paid to the revised 1555 edition, while the recent discovery of his annotations for a further unpublished edition, as well as the existence of further revisions to his revision of Gunther von Andernach’s Institutiones anatomicae, have thrown new light on the man and on his relationship with his Basle publisher, Oporinus.

This talk discusses Vesalius’ activities as reviser and corrector over his career as a Galenic anatomist.