Vesalius annotations and the rise of early modern medicine

A learned physician with a library that includes Vesalius and ancient authorities; etching by Giuseppe Maria Mitell (c 1700) Wellcome Collection (under CC BY 4.0) Copies of the Fabrica still survive throughout the world and they are filled with annotations. Vesalius' early readers probably read the ancients with so much interest not only because they revered tradition, but also because Greek and Roman authors provided a plethora of essential observational data for medicine in a world where access to human cadavers or even animal models was limited. According to the Fabrica, one single bone made up the upper jaw. According to the Bible, God created Eve from the rib of Adam, which led many early physicians to believe that men had fewer ribs than women.