A Bio-Bibliography of Andreas Vesalius

The pleasure of the undertaking lies not in reaching Xanadu-I am sure that no true scholar has yet found rest in that fabulous city-but rather in disclosing the road that leads ever onward to that goal. As the author states, such a venture into bibliography is to follow a path which enters "a dark forest full of unsuspected brambles." It is obvious that the brambles but exerted a stimulus, for the search for Vesalian material continued over a period of 40 years. And it is evident that the journey was a pleasant one; deciphering the uncertain sign-posts by the way, making due count of those posts that mark the mfles; perchance retracing many steps to correct a waywardness induced by intriguing circumstances; attaining one objective only to find another ever more forcefully beckoning; these must have been the charms to compensate for so much labor. For the objective was "to place the published writings of Vesalius in proper relation to those episodes of his life of which there is contemporary record," and this after a lapse of some 400 years. This has been admirably done; out of a wealth of scholarly study, and with more than a trace of sly humor, emerges Vesalius,-the man, his books, and the background of both. A name in the history of medicine becomes human, an everyday sort of person (in many respects) in an everyday world, if chance and mischance heaped the one upon the other can make an everyday world of the period that saw Galenism face a challenge. The title clearly indicates the double-barrelled nature of the book; it cannot fail to meet the approval of those who choose to focus on the "Bio," while it will give equal satisfaction to those who would emphasize the "Biblio." And for those who appreciate the artistry of fine book-making the volume affords great reward. -GEO. H. SMITH.