Gaspare Tagliacozzi, 1597

TAGLIACOZZI, Gaspare (1545-1599). De curtorum chirurgia per insitionem. Venice: Gasparo Bindoni the younger, 1597.

First edition of the first book devoted exclusively to plastic surgery.”Although many earlier writers such as Celsus had discussed aspects of plastic operations, Tagliacozzi was the first to work towards establishing their scientific validity by publishing surgical procedures that had for generations been closely guarded secrets, and by improving these procedures in the light of the best medical knowledge of his day. Tagliacozzi described and fully illustrated the method of rhinoplasty that uses a graft from the patient’s arm, as well as various cosmetic operations on the ears, yet his contemporaries refused to adopt his methods, possibly for fear complications” (Norman). This work is the source of the quote which become a motto for plastic surgeons today: “we restore, rebuild, and make whole those parts which nature hath given, but which fortune has taken away.” Grolier Medicine 23; Heirs of Hippocrates 379; Mortimer, Harvard Italian 488; Norman 2048.

Folio (318 x 210mm). Letterpress title printed in red and black. Engraved additional title and woodcut illustrations, including 22 full-page (ink stain to lower gutter, engraved title a little dustsoiled, some sheets browned). 18th-century calf gilt, edges red (upper board detached, boards worn).