Hieronymus Fabricius Ab Aquapendente [Girolamo Fabrizio d'Aquapendente] - Operationes Chirurgicae - 1619

THE FIRST EDITION OF THE SURGICAL WORKS OF THE FATHER OF THE TEACHER OF HARVEY, CASSERIUS AND SPIEGEL, AND THE STUDENT OF FALLOPIO. THE VERY RARE AND HIGHLY DESIRABLE 1619 FIRST EDITION OF THE ‘OPERATIONES CHIRURGICAE’ (SURGICAL WORKS – also commonly referred to as the ‘Opera Chirurgiche’) OF HIERONYMUS FABRICIUS D’AQUAPENDENTE (Girolamo Fabrizio) , KNOWN AS THE ‘FATHER OF EMBRYOLOGY,’ ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND A MASTERFUL AND INNOVATIVE SURGEON, PRINTED IN TWO FOLIO VOLUMES AT VENICE IN 1619 BY MEGLIETTUM (here bound as one, as is usually the case) , COMPLETE IN ALL RESPECTS, IN ABOUT VERY GOOD CONDITION, AND BOUND IN 17TH CENTURY LIMP VELLUM (contemporary to the time of publication) . The volume may be referenced as Krivatsy. FABRICIUS D’AQUAPENDENTE WAS THE TEACHER OF WILLIAM HARVEY, JULIUS CASSERIUS, AND ADRIAAN VAN DEN SPIEGEL; HE WAS THE STUDENT OF FALLOPPIO, WHO WAS IN TURN THE STUDENT OF VESALIUS. The full title reads as follows: “Hieronymi Fabricii Ab Aquapendente. / Operationes Chirurgicae. / In duas Partes divisae. / Quibus Adiectum est Pentateuchon antea editum, & alia quae in eo desiderari videbantur. / Cum Indicibus, tum Capitum, tum Rerum notatu dignarum novis, ijsq. absolutissimis. / Ad Serenissimum Sigismundum III. / Poloniae Regem. / Cum Privilegijs Caesarea Maiest. Reipub. Veneta, & aliorum Principum. / Venetiis, M DC XIX / Apud Paulum Megliettum. ”HIERONYMUS FABRICIUS D’AQUAPENDENTE (Girolamo Fabrizio in the Italian of his birth) IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES IN THE HISTORY OF WESTERN MEDICINE AND SCIENCE. Hirsh goes so far as to assert that “Fabricius must be acknowledged as the founding father of a scientific comparative method for anatomy and evolution. THE ‘OPERATIONES CHIRURGICAE’ constitutes the FIRST EDITION OF D’AQUAPENDENTE’S IMPORTANT SURGICAL WORKS. These include his description of a tracheotomy, one of the earliest on record. The first part of the Opere is "primarily devoted to the description of tumours, wounds, ulcers and fistulas, fractures, and dislocations; to these the Operationes adds a description of surgical instruments. . . and classic surgical techniques” (DSB) . “The five books of the Pentateuchos are primarily devoted to the description of tumors, wounds, ulcers and fistulas, fractures, and dislocations; to these the ‘Operationes’ adds a description of surgical instruments (some of which are illustrated) and classic surgical techniques, including a discussion of particular technical expedients devised by Fabricius himself and emphasizing some differences between Fabrizio's technique and that of others” (DSB) . Of particular interest is Fabrizio's extensive discussion of dentistry and oral surgery, in which he describes techniques for various operations such as tartar removal, treatment of dental caries, the filing and extraction of teeth, tooth replacement, and the treatment of lockjaw and jaw dislocations. “One noteworthy item, which must be regarded as progress, is that we do not find a single word in [d’Aquapendente’s] work about loosening teeth through cauterizing agents, the treatment which was so highly cultivated by the Arabs and so eagerly incorporated in the West” (Hoffmann-Axthelm History of Dentistry p 143; also pp 142 & 144) . Fabrizio described several dental instruments, such as the ‘pelican’ for tooth extraction, the crow's bill forceps for removing roots, the stork's bill forceps for removing incisors, the ‘dog's bite’ forceps, a drill, a rasper, etc. ”OF GIROLAMO FABRICIUS D’AQUAPENDENTE: Born in Acquapendente, Latium, Fabricius studied at the University of Padua, receiving a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1559 under the guidance of Gabriele Falloppio. He was a private teacher of anatomy in Padua, 1562–1565, and in 1565, became professor of surgeryand anatomy at the university, succeeding Falloppio. In 1594 he revolutionized the teaching of anatomy when he designed the first permanent theater for public anatomical dissections. Julius Casserius (1561–1616) of Piacenza was among Fabricius' students. William Harvey (1578–1657) and Adriaan van den Spiegel(1578–1625) also studied under Fabricius, beginning around 1598. Julius Casserius would later succeed Fabricius as Professor of Anatomy at the University of Padua in 1604, and Adriaan van den Spiegel succeeded Casserius in that position in 1615. By dissecting animals, Fabricius investigated the formation of the fetus, the structure of the esophagus, stomach and intestines, and the peculiarities of the eye, the ear, and the larynx. He was the first to describe the membranous folds that he called "valves" in the interior of veins. These valves are now understood to prevent retrograde flow of blood within the veins, thus facilitating antegrade flow of blood towards the heart, though Fabricius did not understand their role at that time. In his Tabulae Pictae, first published in 1600, Fabricius described the cerebral fissure separating the temporal lobe from the frontal lobe. However, Fabricius' discovery was not recognized until recently. Instead, Danish anatomist Caspar Bartholini credits Franciscus Sylvius with the discovery, and Bartholin's son Thomas named it the Sylvian fissure in the 1641 edition of the textbook Institutiones anatomicae. The Bursa of Fabricius (the site of hematopoiesis in birds) is named after Fabricius. A manuscript entitled De Formatione Ovi et Pulli, found among his lecture notes after his death, was published in 1621. It contains the first description of the bursa. Fabricius contributed much to the field of surgery. Though he never actually performed a tracheotomy, his writings include descriptions of the surgical technique. He favored using a vertical incision and was the first to introduce the idea of a tracheostomy tube. This was a straight, short cannula that incorporated wings to prevent the tube from disappearing into the trachea. He recommended the operation only as a last resort, to be used in cases of airway obstruction by foreign bodies or secretions. Fabricius' description of the tracheotomy procedure is similar to that used today. Julius Casserius published his own writings regarding technique and equipment for tracheotomy. Casserius recommended using a curved silver tube with several holes in it. Marco Aurelio Severino (1580–1656) , a skilful surgeon and anatomist, performed at least one tracheotomy during a diphtheria epidemic in Naples in 1610, using the vertical incision technique recommended by Fabricius. THE TWO VOLUMES, HERE BOUND AS ONE, ARE COMPLETE IN ALL RESPECTS. It is paginated as follows: (20) , 187, (1) ; (20) , 178, 26. The volume measures about 32. 8 cm by 23. 5 cm by 3. 5 cm; each leaf measures about 325 mm by 226 mm. THE TWO VOLUMES, BOUND AS ONE, ARE IN ABOUT VERY GOOD CONDITION. The leaves are generally clean, with clear print and ample margins throughout. There is a healthy amount of browning, however, as shown in the photos. This is very common amongst Continental printed books of the period. The binding is of 17th century limp vellum, contemporary to the time of publication, with the title in early stenciled manuscript on the spine. The book-block is strong, though a little shaken. The hinges hold by the endpapers, the vellum being in the nature of wrappers. There is a small split in the vellum at the foot of the rear hinge.