EUCHARIUS RÖSSLIN (d. 1526). The birth of mankinde, otherwise named the woman’s booke. Set foorth in English by Thomas Raynalde. London: Thomas Adams, [1604].

Based on the Latin version, De partu hominis was translated and published by Richard Jonas (fl. 1540).  The next English edition to appear was published by Thomas Raynalde. Raynalde borrowed freely from other authors and included several anatomical plates and descriptive text from Vesalius’ Fabrica. There were over ten subsequent editions of Raynalde’s translation.

English midwives and physicians were largely dependent on this book for guidance in the practice of obstetrics until the Eighteenth Century.  In addition to obstetrics, the book covers infant care, nursing, and the diseases of infancy. Illustrations of the birth chair, the lying-in chamber, and various positions of the fetus in utero are seen for the first time and are the earliest obstetrical illustrations printed from wood blocks.  This book was the first printed English book on the subject of midwifery.

You may view this book in the John Martin Rare Book Room, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences. Make a gift to the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences by donating online or setting up a recurring gift with The University of Iowa Foundation.