Why did the book end up here?
Today, it may seem puzzling why a university department would purchase an antiquarian book. What could a 340-year-old book possibly contribute to learning and the development of knowledge? Some 19th-century doctors apparently still used it as a textbook in anatomy (15), and it could be argued that it belonged in the well-equipped anatomy library (5, p. 48), which for several years was known as the Anatomy Museum (7). At that time, it was common practice to purchase older literature for academic libraries (16). Interestingly, the Fabrica is not the oldest book in the Department of Anatomy's collection: that honour goes to Anathomia Mundini by Jacopo Berengario da Carpi (c. 1460–1530), from 1514 (17).
However, demand for the classics nevertheless declined in the 19th century. Vesalius was, understandably, seen as outdated. It was no longer macroscopic anatomy that was driving progress, and more up-to-date and affordable anatomy books were available on the market.
Today, it may seem puzzling why a university department would purchase an antiquarian book. What could a 340-year-old book possibly contribute to learning and the development of knowledge?
The international catalogue from 2018 shows that the University of Christiania (now Oslo) already owned a copy of the Fabrica (5). Granted, it was the second edition from 1555, but this version was considered an improvement on the first. Why Heiberg still chose to buy the first edition remains unclear, but examining the medical literature landscape in the 19th century may offer some insight.
When medical studies were introduced at the new university in Christiania in 1814 everything had to be built from scratch. The first of the professors, Michael Skjelderup (1769–1852), taught anatomy. When he died, he bequeathed a copy of Vesalius' second edition to the university's anatomy library (5, p. 354) (Box 2). A few years later, in 1859, the library at the Department of Anatomy held 389 volumes, and a catalogue of the collection from 1863 includes a reference to the Fabrica (7). This is likely Skjelderup's copy. It is unclear where he obtained the book, but since he bequeathed it, it is assumed this was his private copy, not part of the duplicate collection from Copenhagen or the gift from King Frederik VI (1768–1839) when the University of Christiania was established.
Box 2 One copy is missing
When working on this article, we discovered that one of the copies of the second edition from 1555 is missing from the University of Oslo Library. This copy, which was bequeathed by Professor Michael Skjelderup, was photographed for inclusion in the international catalogue in 2018 (5). Since then, there has been no knowledge of its whereabouts, according to the library. Its disappearance is somewhat of a mystery. It may, of course, have been returned to the wrong shelf, but given its large format, it should be relatively easy to locate in secure storage if it is there. Are our cultural treasures not safe in public collections?
Professor Dániel Margócsy from the University of Cambridge, first author of the international catalogue, informed us that their team did not personally examine this copy, but that a local colleague photographed relevant pages for them. According to Margócsy, these photographs could help identify the copy if it were to appear on the market.
In 1887, Heiberg had to discontinue his work due to illness. By that time, the Department of Anatomy's book collection had grown to 1000–1200 volumes (10, p. 105) – almost double the number twelve years before. According to the annual report for the spring semester of 1883, the department had purchased 158 volumes over the six-month period (9, p. 38).
The books, however, were only a small part of Heiberg's efforts to obtain better teaching materials. He also purchased 'charts, schematics, skeletons and a collection of oversized wooden anatomical models' (18). In 1884, when the funds were exhausted, Heiberg wrote that teaching aids had been acquired in bone, metal, wood, plaster and wax, as well as a range of instruments. He had accomplished this through his 'extensive correspondence' with numerous individuals and businesses abroad, including Tramond in Paris, which in the 19th century had established itself as a leading supplier of wax models (19). Some items had cost as much as NOK 600–700 (10, p. 104). Over time, it could proudly be stated that 'the collection in this area was comparable to the best in Europe' (18). Some of this material is still currently used in anatomy studies (12).