VESALIUS, Andreas (1514-64) - photo 1
VESALIUS, Andreas (1514-64) - photo 2
VESALIUS, Andreas (1514-64) - photo 3

VESALIUS, Andreas (1514-64)

Lot 146
10.12.2025 12:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1514380
Lot 146 | VESALIUS, Andreas (1514-64)
Estimate value
£ 50 000 – 70 000
VESALIUS, Andreas (1514-64)
De humani corporis fabrica libri septem. Basel: Johannes Oporinus, June 1543.
First edition of 'the most famous anatomical work ever published … and the milestone in all medical history’ (Heirs of Hippocrates ). Vesalius’ magnum opus revolutionised the understanding of the human body and the teaching of anatomy, refining (and opposing) the prevailing Galenic corpus and thereby dividing history into pre- and post-Vesalian periods.

A renowned professor at Padua, Vesalius wrote the Fabrica to be a comprehensive study of every part of the human body. He organises it according to his (and Galen’s) preferred method of dissection, beginning with the bones and proceeding through muscles, veins, nerves, organs, heart and brain. Just as fundamental to Vesalius’ aim as the rigorously scientific text based on new methods and observation were the extensive illustrations. Their detail, coupled with the large size of the book, ensured their instructive utility. The illustrations were prepared under Vesalius’ supervision in Venice by anonymous artists in the school of Titian (and possibly by Jan Stephan von Kalkar with whom Vesalius had worked previously) and shipped to the publisher in Basel with the author's precise instructions for their placement in the text. The woodcuts were highly influential and were re-used or copied for over a century; the woodblocks themselves survived in Germany up to the Second World War. The 14 muscle-men stand in landscapes that together form a panorama of the Euganean Hills near Padua, and even the woodcut initials, cut specially for this edition, depict activities associated with the dissecting room. The result is not only a revolutionary work of science but also one of the most beautiful books of its time. It was owned and studied by scholars and practitioners across Europe, including artists such as Joachim von Sandrart and Charles Le Brun. Rembrandt depicted a copy of the Fabrica open for consultation in his magisterial painting, the Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolae Tulp. Adams V-603; Dibner Heralds 122; Garrison-Morton 375; Heirs of Hippocrates 281; Grolier Medicine 18A; NLM/Durling 4577; PMM 71; Wellcome 6560; Norman 2137.

Royal folio (428 x 290mm). 353 leaves (of 355, lacking *1.6 [title, portrait]), and with the two folding sheets and single leaf ('Charta parvas aliquot figuras complectens'), the folding plates inserted after m2 and p3, each a single bifolium tipped in at the foot, the ‘Charta parvas’ tipped in as m3. Roman, italic, Hebrew and Greek types, printed shoulder notes. Over 200 woodcut illustrations including full-page skeletons and muscle-men, printer’s device at end, and many woodcut historiated and ornamental initials from several sets (folding plate of the veins reinforced on verso with modern linen, first leaves creased and lightly chipped at fore-edge, some light spotting, staining or soiling, text block split and c1-e5 loose). Contemporary ?German calf over pasteboard panelled and tooled in blind with rolls of the Fall-Crucifixion-Resurrection, medieval couples and ornaments [not apparently in EBDB] (worn with some loss, rebacked in the 19th-century). Provenance: later drawing in pencil of a head on T1 – Royal Medical Society (stamps as Royal Medical & Chirurgical Society on first and last 2 leaves).
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
10.12.2025 – 10.12.2025
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
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джордж боттини (1874 - 1907)
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