Guest Post from John Martin Rare Book Room
At the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences
MORGAGNI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (1682-1771). Opuscula miscellanea quorum non pauca nunc primum prodeunt, tres in partes divisa [Miscellaneous works, some of which are new, divided into three parts]. Printed by Giovanni Antonio Remondini at Remondiniana, Bassano del Grappa, 1763. Three volumes bound together. 39 cm tall.
This month we highlight a book currently receiving treatment from the UI Libraries Conservation and Collections Care. Collections Conservator, Beth Stone, is working to clean and stabilize one of our books from Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771).
Morgagni was an 18th-century Italian anatomist and physician. He is referred to as the "father" of modern pathologic anatomy. He stressed connecting the symptoms observed in the sick to the findings from their dissection. Symptoms, he felt, were "the cry of the suffering organs." His work helped dispel the longstanding notion that most diseases were scattered throughout the body. Instead, he was able to demonstrate that they emerge from specific organs and tissues.
During his very long life, Morgagni was a prodigious worker and prolific writer. His three-volume Adversaria Anatomica (1706-1717) put him on the map. His most monumental work, De sedibus, et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis libri quinque, was published in 1761 and made him a legend among anatomists. Vast in scope, it is one of the most fundamentally important works in the history of medicine.
The book this month, however, is Morgagni's Opuscula miscellanea quorum non pauca nunc primum prodeunt, tres in partes divisa [Miscellaneous works, some of which are new, divided into three parts]. As stated in the title, this is a collection of writings on a variety of subjects, including letters to Giovanni Lancisi, an Italian physician, discussing how Cleopatra died.
Morgagni's scholarly ability was apparent at an early age. At sixteen he was a pupil of Antonio Maria Valsalva at Bologna, and there he received the stimulus to devote his life to pathology. While pursuing postgraduate studies, he worked with Giovanni Santorini performing dissections. (Giovanni was clearly a very popular name at this time!)
By 1715 he took the chair of anatomy at Padua, a seat which he held with utmost distinction for many years. He was a brilliant and tireless investigator and, in addition to his work in medicine and anatomy, was a student of the classics and an archaeologist of repute.
Over his long career at the University of Padua, he taught thousands of students from dozens of countries. His teaching emphasized empirical data, direct observation, and experimentation.
Among several other structures, his name is most widely connected with the "Columns of Morgagni," the fine, vertical folds of the anal canal.
As mentioned, if he was not teaching or dissecting, Morgagni was writing. Opuscula miscellanea shows his range and diverse interests. Along with discussing Cleopatra's cause of death, it includes a biography of his mentor, Valsalva, a tract on gallstones, and a few more on legal issues.
Opuscula miscellanea has a lovely, soft paper cover. The cover shows the effects of age, use, and exposure to the environment, with scuffs, stains, and an overall darkening. Do not let that fool you, though, as this is still an effective binding. With a new housing from Conservation, Opuscula miscellanea will be around for a very long time.
Go here to read about Beth’s treatment for Opuscula miscellanea and more.
The annual JMRBR open house is April 20, from 4-7 pm. This is our first in-person event in quite some time and we'd love to see you there!
