SPIGELIUS Adrianus Opera quae extant omnia. Ex recensione Ioh Antonidae van der Linden.

Choulant-Frank, pp. 223-28 ; Waller, 9124 ; Cushing, 5363 ; Castiglione, History of Medicine, p. 527 ; Garrison-Morton, 381 & 5529 ; Heirs of Hippocates, 415; Norman, 1987. Not in Wellcome.

First collected edition, published posthumously.

Spigelius (1567-1625), born in Brussels, studied at Padua and succeeded Guilio Casserius (1561-1616) to the chair of anatomy at Padua. Spigelius was the last of the line of great Paduan Professors of Anatomy which began with Vesalius. A pupil of Fabricus, Spigelius’ name is connected with the caudate lobe of the liver and the linea alba on the midline aponeurosis of the abdominal muscles. With Fabricus he was called to remove a stilleto from the maxilla of Fra Paolo Sarpi, who had been attacked by an assassin. Like many contemporary anatomists, he was also a competent surgeon and often practiced trephination. This edition unites the most complete collection of original impressions of the 87 plates from Casserius’ legacy, including 77 copperplates covering the whole field of human anatomy which Casserius had prepared for his unfinished masterpiece entitled Theatrum Anatomicum. To those 77 copperplates, Daniel Bucretius (1600-31) added 10 plates drawn by Odoardo Fialetti (1573-1638) and engraved by Francesco Valegio. The editor, Johannes van der Linden (1609-1664), added the nine exquisite plates from Casserius’ treatise De Formatu Foetu, and a tenth representing the hymen. Altogether there are 107 plates dealing with the subjects of Spigelius’ work. These include his important De Humani Corporis Fabrica libri Decem, a work on the development of the fetus, and the second edition of his De Semitertiana libri quator, the first extensive account of Malaria, as well as three other works.

“This edition of Spiegel’s work constitutes the most complete collection of original impressions of the eighty-seven plates from Caserius’ legacy and the twenty added to them by Bucretius” (Norman, citing Choulant).

Besides the works of Spigelius, this volume contains the fifth edition of Harvey’s De motu cordis, with the finest version of the plate illustrating the valves in the veins. This magnificent volume was the most elaborate work to which Harvey contribued. The present volume also contains the fourth edition of Aselli’s De Lactibus (with four beautiful copperplates), and Walaeus’ De Motu Chyli.

There are altogether 117 magnificent plates in the volume. Both title-pages present. Engraved title-page, engraved portrait; 97 engraved anatomical plates from Casserius’ Tabulae Anatomicae, engraved by Francisco Valesio after drawings by Odoardo Fialetti; 10 plates after Casserius, to illustrate Spigelius’ De Formato Foetu; 10 engravings (4 in text) to illustrate the shorter treatises in vol.2.

“This splendidly produced collection of Spiegel’s works edited by Johannes Antonides van der Linden (1609-1664) contains 117 copperplate engravings, many of them of primary importance in the history of medical and anatomical illustrations. Of first interest are the plates of Casserio and the twenty plates added by Daniel Bucretius for Spiegel’s De humani corporis fabrica. In addition to Spiegel’s works, these volumes contain Aselli’s De Lactibus sive lacteis venis; Harvey’s De Motu cordis, with a fine version of the plate illustrating the valves of the veins; Johannes Walaeus’ Epistolae duae; and Linden’s De Monstrosis vermibus” (Heirs of Hippocrates).

Good, complete copy, plates III and IV of Foetu Formatio (pp. 35-37) with cropped margin, pp. LXXXV-and following leaf of Walaeus with portion of blank margin cut-out not affecting text. One plate to illustrate worms in Spigelius’ De Lumbrice lato in part II, misbound after page 30 of Casserius’ Tabulae.