A copy of the second edition of „De humani corporis fabrica” by Andreas Vesalius (Basel, 1555) in the collections of Cieszyn Library. Part II — in Leopold Jan Szersznik’s library (19th century)

Abstract

The author has made an attempt to trace the history of the second edition of De humani corporis fabrica by Andreas Vesalius (Basel, 1555), which remains in the possession of Cieszyn Library since it was included in the collections of the Jesuit Leopold Jan Szersznik. Part I (Roczniki Biblioteczne 65/2021) presents the history of this copy before it was bought by Szersznik in 1802. In Part II, the author characterises Szersznik’s medical collections and indicates the significance of Vesalius’s work for them. He concentrates on the descriptive cataloguing of De humani corporis fabrica by Cieszyn librarians since its purchase in 1802. Then, he indicates other books in Szersznik’s collections, previously belonging to 16th-century European physicians, including the volume belonging to Johann Crato von Crafftheim, an outstanding Renaissance physician from Wrocław. At the end, the author describes the Cieszyn copy of De humani corporis fabrica in detail and attempts to assess its readership.