Giulio Casserio

Giulio Casserio (1552–1616).
De vocis auditusque organis historia anatomica singulari fide methodo ac industria concinnata tractatibus duobus explicata ac variis iconibus aere excusis illustrata.
Ferrara: Victorio Baldino, 1600–1601. (BRC0007)

A student of Girolamo Fabrizio (1537–1619), Casserio succeeded his teacher in the chair of anatomy at the University of Padua. As Fabrizio had done before him, Casserio attempted to explain human anatomy in comparison to the anatomy of lower animals. His De vocis includes the first comparative studies of the human larynx and ear and is considered one of the sixteenth century’s most ambitious investigations in comparative anatomy. A remarkable example of early modern book illustration, the detailed and accomplished engravings signaled the end of the use of woodcuts for anatomical instruction. In addition, the exhibited elaborately engraved title page may be the only example of dissected putti in the history of iconography.

The Sellers copy includes accomplished anatomical studies in red pencil, perhaps from the nineteenth-century, located in the margins of five pages.