730J..i Casserio, Giulio 1545-1616

Pentaestheseion; hoc est, De quinque sensibus liber,
organorum fabricam variis iconibus fideliter & ad vivum aere incisis illustratam, nec non actionem & usum, discursu anatomico & philosophico accurate explicata continens. Jam primum in Germania visus discursu anatomico & philosophico accuratè explicata continens.

Bound With

730Jii. Girolamo Fabricius ab Aquapendente, Hieronymus 1537-1619

Hieronymi Fabricii ab Aquapendente, Anatomices et chirurgiae in Florentissimo Gymnasio Patauino professoris olim publici primarij supraordinarij. quorum: de formato foetu, de locutione eius instrumentis, de loquela brutorum, de venarum ostiolis, loquitur

Frankfurt: Nikolaus Basse, 1610. and Francofurti, Zetter 1624. $29,800

730J..i Casserio, Giulio 1545-1616

Pentaestheseion; hoc est, De quinque sensibus liber,
organorum fabricam variis iconibus fideliter & ad vivum aere incisis illustratam, nec non actionem & usum, discursu anatomico & philosophico accurate explicata continens. Jam primum in Germania visus discursu anatomico & philosophico accuratè explicata continens.

Folio (296 x 186 mm). Signatures: )(⁶ A-B⁶ C-2T⁴ 2V⁶(-V6) 2X⁸.

Includes index. Engraved engraved title and 33 full-page engravings within page numbering. Bound with the Fabricius in Contemporary vellum, (head of spine chipped, extremities a bit rubbed). Internally crisp and unmarked, with minor spotting in places; some brown ink smudges to upper- and fore-edge affecting outer margins of a few leaves, light dampstain to lower corner.

The sensory organs (touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight) are discussed in this book. There are many drawings such as head bones, ear muscles, inner ear, eyeball, and eye muscles be- longing to both human and animal in this book. This book contributed to the comparative anatomy the ear and the vocal organs.


The very fine anatomical plates for which this book is noted are both drawn and engraved by the Swiss artist Joseph Maurer, a pupil of Tobias Stimmer who lived in Casserius’ house. The 12 plates pertaining to the ear are the same as those of Casserius’ earlier work; they constitute “the first accurate pictorial presentation of the internal ear” (Lyle M. Sellers, Annals of Otology, LXVIII, No. 3, Sept. 1959).

Those dealing with the other four sense organs are new. Among them, in the especially important section dealing with the EYE and VISION (pp. 257-346) are the first pictorial representations of the conjunctival glands, later known as the Meibomian glands (cf. Garrison-Morton 1481).

All the plates, according to Choulant-Frank, “are done with unusual care and are anatomically exact.” Casserius’ anatomy of the sense organs is of great importance in medical history, since for the first time he adds to a complete account of each human organ a full study of the same organ in various animal forms.

OCLC/WorldCat list the following copies in North American libraries:

COLUMBIA UNIV, HEALTH SCI, NEW YORK ACDY OF MED , THOUSAND OAKS PUB LIBR, NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE,UNIV OF MINNESOTA, MINNEAPOLIS

Bound With

730Jiii. Girolamo Fabricius ab Aquapendente, Hieronymus 1537-1619

Hieronymi Fabricii ab Aquapendente, Anatomices et chirurgiae in Florentissimo Gymnasio Patauino professoris olim publici primarij supraordinarij. quorum: de formato foetu, de locutione eius instrumentis, de loquela brutorum, de venarum ostiolis, loquitur

Tractatus Quatuor :Francofurti, impensis J. de Zetter, typis H. Palthenii, 1624,

Folio (296 x 186 mm). Signatures ¶6,A-K4,L2|L3-4, M-P1|P1-2-S2|S3-X4. with 38 Full page plates. Bound with the Casserio,in Contemporary vellum, (head of spine chipped, extremities a bit rubbed). Internally crisp and unmarked, with minor spotting in places; some brown ink smudges to upper- and fore-edge affecting outer margins of a few leaves, light dampstain to lower corner.

This book formed fetus, of the speech of its instruments, of the speech of brutes, of the portals of the veins.  

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 rediscovered the membranous folds that he called “valves” in the interior of veins, though they were first described by Charles Estienne in 1545. Fabricius rediscovered them in 1574, and was the first to fully describe them including their function in 1603. 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.

His first public course in anatomy was taught from 18 December to 5 January 1566.  He was admitted to the College of Philosophy and Medicine 12 May 1584, when he resigned his position as the chair of surgery in favor of Julius Casserius.    He began lectures on the formation of the fetus in 1589 and provided private lessons on the subject of embryology in 1592. Fabrici was given life tenure in 1600 and awarded Supraordinarius of anatomy, and by 1603 he ascended to the title of Professor Supraordinariusin surgery.     .  Fabrici published two important works in embryology. De formato foetu (The Formed Fetus) was published in 1600 by Franciscus Bolzetta and in 1604 by Laurentius Pasquatus. The second embryological treatise, De formatione ovi et pulli (On the Formation of the Egg and of the Chick), was published posthumously in 1621. Both contained impressive illustrations depicting the uterus and comparative studies of the fetuses in dogs, cats, mice, rabbits, goats, guinea pigs, sheep, cows, horses, pigs, birds, sharks, and humans.

Gilson, Hilary, “Girolamo Fabrici (1537-1619)”. Embryo Project Encyclopedia (2008-08-26). ISSN: 1940-5030 http://embryo.asu.edu/handle/10776/1943.

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