Early depiction of anterior spinal arteries and veins in André du Laurens's Historia anatomica humani corporis (1600)

Abstract

Scholars usually consider the Historia anatomica corporis humani, published in 1600 by André du Laurens, as an obsolete defense of Galenic principles against the novelty of Vesalian material. Although du Laurens's book plagiarized many illustrations from Vesalius's De humani corporis fabrica (1543), critics such as Choulant insisted that the Historia's iconography had "no particular anatomical or artistic value." However, four of the Historia's engravings appear to be original. One of these, the Tabula hæc veram spinalis medullae et nervorum ab ea prodeuntium effigiem exprimit, is now famous for depicting the intradural spinal nerves as a horsetail, leading to the addition of the term cauda equina to the anatomical lexicon. A less flamboyant figure from the same plate shows small blood vessels coursing over the surface of the cervical spinal cord. This drawing may be the first published depiction of anterior spinal arteries and veins.

Keywords: Anatomy; André du Laurens; history; iconography; spinal vasculature.