Fabrici's first published anatomical work

FABRICI, Girolamo (FABRICIUS AB AQUAPENDENTE, Hieronymus).

De visione voce auditu.

Venice: Francesco Bolzetta, 1600.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #002560

3 parts in one volume. Folio (366 x 255 mm). [12], 133 [3]; [12], 83 [1]; [8], 38 pp., including fine engraved title by Iacobus Valegius, 11 full-page engraved plates, woodcut initials and tail-pieces, several woodcut text illustrations. With the blank leaf R4 at end of first part, but without final blank E4 at end of third part. Signatures: *⁶ A-R⁴, )⁶ A-I⁴ K⁶, [cross]⁴ A-E⁴ (-E4). Colophon on R3v of first part reads 'Patauii : Ex officina Laurentij Pasquati, almae juristarum universitatis typographi'. Contemporary limp vellum (soiled and browned, boards at fore-edge expertly restored, endpapers renewed), spine titled in ink, endpapers renewed. Fore-margins partially untrimmed, neat contemporary ink annotations to penultimate leaf E2rv, very little browning, engraved title with paper restoration in blank fore-margin affecting just a few mm of engraved border, closed tear to first plate without loss, a few minor edge restoration elsewhere. A clean and crisp copy with ample margins in its original binding.

Heirs of Hippocrates 365; NLM/Durling 1415; Waller 2888; Cushing F7; Wellcome I, 2118; Adams F-100; not in Norman. THE RARE FIRST EDITION of Fabrici's first published anatomical work, which is in three parts (De visione sive de oculo visus organo, De voce sive de larynge vocis organo, De auditu sive de aure auditus organo) and dealing with the eye, the throat and the ear, illustrated with detailed engravings.
"The major portion of this work on the organs of vision, speech, and hearing is devoted to the eye, and it is clear that Fabricius was one of the first to grasp the true form and proper location of the lens. Although his description of the ear is sound, it contributed no new knowledge about the ear or the sense of hearing. An extremely competent comparative anatomist, he was at his best in dealing with the laryngeal apparatus" (Heirs of Hippocrates 365). This work, together with his many other anatomical studies were intended to form a monumental Totius animalis fabricae theatrum, which however never appeared in print.
Girolamo Fabrici, also known from the Latin form of his name as Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente, taught anatomy at the University of Padua, where he had previously studied under Gabriele Falioppio, himself a student of Vesalius. Fabrici published a series of works on aspects of anatomy, including the present work on human speech organs and the physiology of voice production.

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