Charles Estienne (1504-1564). De dissectione partium corporis humani libri tres. : Apud Simonem Colinaeum, 1545.

Estienne was a member of the famous Estienne family of printers. He received his medical degree from the University of Paris in 1542, but had been at work on this anatomical magnum opus for many years, as some of the plates are dated 1530 and 1531.

This magnificent folio (oversized) volume is one of the finest of all anatomical treatises. Certainly it was the finest printed in France in the 16th Century. The 62 full-page woodcuts, artistically present the anatomical subjects in special poses before unusual background settings. The anatomy itself is pre-Vesalian in conception and far from being as accurate as Vesalius. Some of the plates show diseased as well as normal anatomy.

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.

Some additional images from this work available online from the National Library of Medicine.