All the way from the Special Collections comes ...
De Humani Corporis Fabrica libri septem
How did it get here?
The Special Collections is not sure how this Fabrica got to be in their collection. They have 3 editions of this book and they know one of them was found in the office of the head of medicine. However, the information on which one that was has been lost over the years.
Did you know ...
Vesalius is said to have died on a shipwreck, but many people think he was actually killed because of the work he was doing.
What's the story?
The Fabrica is an anatomy book written by Vesalius in 1555. This is the 2nd version of the book, since Vesalius was not happy with the first edition.This copy of the book is special since it has a pop-out drawing of the whole human body. This was the first anatomical book using actual human bodies. How do you think people felt about this at the time? It became extra controversial when people found out that the bodies used might have been stolen from graves. Do you think this is ethical? Even though Vesalius never admitted it and didn't use images of individual people, do you think it is right to use this book at all?
Courtesy of UCL Library Services, Special Collections
So what was it used for?
The Fabrica was mainly used to teach medical students the human anatomy. This was very important because before this book was published surgeries went wrong a lot of times since the surgeons didn't know where everything was located in the human body exactly.
Collection: Special Collections. The Fabrica is currently not on display like everything in the Special Collection, but is often used for research.
Full name: De Humani Corporis Fabrica libri septem by Andreas Vesalius
Abbreviation: the Fabrica
Barcode: UCL0015178
Date: 1555 - 1601
Want to see more?
If you are interested in knowing more about Vesalius and his book check out this virtual exhibition done by Cambridge university.
Take a closer look
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Why is it still important?
The Fabrica is still widely known and celebrated because it signifies a new era in the field of medicine. From the time the Fabrica was published onwards doctors started observing actual bodies and not just animals.
Want to see it in real life?
Although the Fabrica is not currently on display UCL is building a new museum for the Special collections, so if you wish to see what it really looks like keep an eye out for this.
Furthermore, the cruficorm library at UCL is getting a 3D model of the anatomical pop-out, which will be on display in a few months.
Want to know more about Vesalius?
What do you think?
- Do you think a lot of information is lost because of non-documentation like is the case here?
- Should this still be on display everywhere even though the bodies that were used to make it might not have been gotten with consent? Or is this fine since it was such a long time ago?