The first collected edition of the works of Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) with the famous woodcuts reproduced as copperplate engravings by Jan Wandelaar (1690-1759). Edited by Hermann Boerhaave (1668-1738) and Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (1697-1770) and published in Leiden in 1725, this two-volume folio is dedicated to Charles V. According to Garrison-Morton “Boerhaave and Albinus had this edition published because Vesalius's works still had practical value for physicians early in the 18th century before the application of microscopy to anatomy.” Vesalius is commonly referred to as ‘the founder of modern human anatomy’ because he considered hands-on direct observation more important than teaching from reading classical texts, such as Galen.
Below you find the fully digitized copy of the Boerhaave-Albinus edition of Vesalius’s anatomical masterpiece.
