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Title page of the De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem

Jan van Calcar1543

University of Sydney Library

University of Sydney Library
Camperdown, Australia

This brightly coloured illustration of a public and live dissection is found at the front of the University of Sydney Library's copy of the first edition of De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (On the fabric of the human body in seven books).

The paints used by the first owner, German physician Caspar Neefe to colour the illustrations would have been made from the pigments available at the time, such as lapis-lazuli, azurite, malachite, calcite, and umber.

The Fabrica is considered one of the most important medical books ever published, and changed the way that anatomy was understood and taught.

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  • Title: Title page of the De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem
  • Creator: Andreas Vesalius, Johannes Oporinus, Jan Stephan van Calcar, Caspar Neefe
  • Date Created: 1543
  • Location Created: Basel, Switzerland
  • Original Language: Latin
  • Provenance: Fisher Library Rare Books and Special Collections copy acquired in celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the opening of Fisher Library, through the generous support of the Margaret Lundie Fund and the B & A Osborn Book Fund in 2023, First owner was German physician Caspar Neefe (1514-79), who later served as personal physician to Duke Albert I of Saxony, and with his handwritten annotations throughout. Previously in a Tyrolean private medical collection (erased circular library stamp in the blank lower margin of the title page).
  • Subject Keywords: Frontispiece, Science, Anatomy
  • Type: Printed book
  • Original Source: University of Sydney Library, RB Folio 8243.1
  • External Link: View this page in digitised version, View the full digitised item
University of Sydney Library

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