Libro de la Anothomia del Hombre

Libro de la Anothomia del Hombre – Vicent Garcia Editores – R/2461 – Biblioteca Nacional de España (Madrid, Spain)

Valladolid (Spain) — 1591

A testimony to humanism in Spain, written by the personal physician of Emperor Charles V: Bernardino Montaña de Monserrates' manual of anatomy in vernacular Spanish with 13 detailed woodcuts of the human body

  1. Renaissance scholars sought to elevate Castilian as a scientific language as well as a literary one

  2. Bernardino Montaña de Monserrate (ca. 1480–1558) was the personal physician of Emperor Charles V (1500–58)

  3. His vernacular anatomical handbook is adorned with 13 detailed woodcuts of the human body

Libro de la Anothomia del Hombre

Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €
(under 1,000€)
  1. Description
  2. Facsimile Editions (1)
Description
Libro de la Anothomia del Hombre

The spread of vernacular languages was one of the characteristic features of the Renaissance. This Spanish codex from the mid-16th century demonstrates that the vernacular was suitable not only for higher literature and the Bible, but even for science. It is a textbook devoted to human anatomy: it represented a field of study that, unsurprisingly, was highly valued by Renaissance humanists.

Libro de la Anothomia del Hombre

A testimony to the efforts of Renaissance scholars who sought to elevate Castilian as a scientific language as opposed to traditional Latin: the Libro de la Anothomia del Hombre. Printed in 1551, the Spanish codex is adorned with 13 detailed woodcuts of the human body: three for the muscular system, two for the circulatory system, two for the nervous system, one for the seminal vesicles, one for the organs, four for the bones, and two prints for the bones of the hand. Along with the instructive text printed in Gothic and Roman script, these detailed diagrams help make the codex a practical anatomical handbook. It was written by Bernardino Montaña de Monserrate (ca. 1480–1558), the personal physician of Emperor Charles V (1500–58) and professor at the Universidad de Valladolid, who insists in the text that the information therein is “very useful and necessary for doctors and surgeons who want to be perfect in their art and good to other discreet men who don't know about nature's secrets”. He continues “this book is about how a man is created, the way he is conceived and is born, and the reasons why he necessarily dies, and about a dream of Don Luis Hurtado de Mendoça, Marqués de Mondéjar”. This wonderful and comprehensive codex represents a cornerstone of modern science as well as a testament to fine Spanish book printing during the 16th century.

Codicology

Alternative Titles
Libro de Anatomía
Buch der Anatomie des Menschen
Size / Format
296 pages / 28.8 × 19.5 cm
Origin
Spain
Date
1591
Language
Illustrations
13 anatomical xylographies
Content
Treatise on anathomy
Artist / School

Available facsimile editions:
Libro de la Anothomia del Hombre – Vicent Garcia Editores – R/2461 – Biblioteca Nacional de España (Madrid, Spain)
Vicent Garcia Editores – Valencia, 2008
Limited Edition: 3160 copies
Facsimile Editions

#1 Libro de la Anothomia del Hombre

Vicent Garcia Editores – Valencia, 2008

Publisher: Vicent Garcia Editores – Valencia, 2008
Limited Edition: 3160 copies
Binding: Binding of parchment on wooden cover Cloth-lined presentation case with gold engraved leather spine
Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €
(under 1,000€)
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