JF Ptak Science Books: "Correcting" Sight; Vision and Seeing

Georg Bartisch (1535-1606) a brought-up-from-norhing-couldn't-write-but-could-read barber-surgeon, from Dreseden, provided this spectacular illustration for his Ophthalmodouleia Das ist Augendienst (1583) (Treatment of the Eye). As opportunistic as this image appears for imaginative interpretation, it was purely a cloth over the eyes to "help" correct strabismus (crossed eyes). The slits in the cloth were meant to force the muscles of the eye to conform to their normal positions.

More substantial, and more magnificent, are a series of anatomical dissections, flap-books if you will of superimposed moveable sheets of paper, showing different levels of the human body. Finding these in 16th century books are quite rare, and I've included a series of six images showing the cut-aways of a dissection through the top of the head. It is fabulous, and accurate.

The images are all courtesy of :

Duke University Medical Center Library
History of Medicine Collections, Durham, NC
Photographed by Dr. George O.D. Rosenwasser