Introduction to Anatomy, 1532 / With English translation and an introductory essay on anatomical studies in Tudor England by C.D. O'Malley and K.F. Russell.

A FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION AND AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ON ANATOMICAL STUDIES IN TUDOR ENGLAND
BY C. D. O’MALLEY AND K. F. RUSSELL
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Stanford, California 1961
English translation and Introduction © C. D. O’Malley and K. F. Russell, 1961
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD BY VIVIAN RIDLER PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
TO THE MEMORY OF CHARLES SINGER FRIEND AND MENTOR
Grateful acknowledgements are made for assistance from the National Science Foundation in the preparation of this work; to the British Museum for permission to photograph the only copy of David Edwardes’s Introduction known to be in existence; and to the Wellcome Trust whose help made the publication of this work possible.
On 22 August 1485 the battle of Bosworth provided its victor with the throne of England. Richard III died sword in hand and was unceremoniously buried in the Grey Friars at Leicester, and on that same day the victor, Henry Tudor, was as simply crowned and acclaimed by his troops as Henry VII. So began the Tudor dynasty in England which was to last until the death of Elizabeth in 1603, to be one of the most colourful periods of English history and to witness the arrival of the Renaissance in England. Later than its manifestation on the Continent, but thereby reaping the benefits of continental developments, English humanism as a result was soon to become no mean rival. The development of English literature is too well known for comment, while classical studies, and especially those in Greek, were to rival their continental counterpart by the end of the first quarter of the sixteenth century. Science, however, and more particularly medicine, were laggards.
The difference can be explained, at least in part, by the fact that on the Continent the classical revival of the Renaissance had caused or was causing medieval tradition to be replaced by that of classical antiquity. The Renaissance represented an effort to revive the spirit and interests of the classical world, and classical antiquity had been much interested in the structure of man. Especially important was the recovery of the Greek language and literature since it made possible the recovery of the writings of the great classical physicians, notably Hippocrates and Galen, for generally speaking classical Greece had shown more interest in human anatomy than had classical Rome. This recovery had occurred first in Italy, then moved northward across the Alps and only in the early sixteenth century did it reach England.