FIRST EDITION OF SCARPA’S «ON THE DISEASES OF THE EYES»
THE STANDARD TEXT OF OPHTAMOLOGY FOR SEVERAL DECADES

SCARPA, ANTONIO. Saggio di Osservazioni e d’Esperienze sulle Principali Malattie degli Occhi. Pavia, presso Baldassare Comino, 1801.

Folio (290x215 mm), quarter calf binding on marbled paper, spine divided into six compartments by floral and gilt decorations (with scratching at the lower part of the spine), lettering printed in gold to the second compartment, blue silk bookmark, pp. [4], XI, [1, blank], 278, [2, the last blank], ff. [3, containing plates].
Roman type, text in Italian.
Oval-shaped portrait of the author by Giuseppe Cattaneo (19th century) and engraved by the Lombard artist Faustino Anderloni (1766-1847).

THREE COPPER-PLATED ILLUSTRATIONS drawn by the author and engraved by Anderloni reproducing the human head’s physiognomy, different diseases of the eye socket and various medical tools. Garrison considered Scarpa’s illustrations to be the «crown and flower of achievement in anatomic pen-drawing».

FIRST EDITION OF «THE GREATEST WORK ON OPHTHALMOLOGY THAT HAD APPEARED UP TO ITS TIME» (DUKE-ELDER), THAT ESTABLISHED SCARPA’S REPUTATION AS A LEADING OPHTHALMOLOGIST AND REMAINED THE STANDARD TEXT FOR SEVERAL DECADES.

IN THIS WORK SCARPA FIRST DESCRIBED THE OPERATION OF IRIDODIALYSIS. THE CHAPTERS ON DISEASES OF THE VESSELS IN THE EYE, ON CATARACT, AND ON STAPHYLOMA ARE PARTICULARLY NOTEWORTHY.

Result of Scarpa’s interest in physiology, Malattie degli Occhi proves to be an interesting and innovative medical essay on the eye’s pathological cases. As a man of great method, he was used to confront his studies and medical observations with those of other specialists and scholars of his time. In particular, he found results in the medical field of ophthalmology, which were completely new. Oppositely to his colleagues, his commitment was that of «determining, behind the dictates of observation and those of experience, which one amongst the many different cures has to be chosen».

Critical towards those surgeons who presumed to be oculists, Scarpa took the distance from the unrealistic and unreliable tracts of their essays and showed in his Saggio un metodo operativo […] semplice e utile […] frutto della mia pratica e delle mie sperienze (an easy and useful method, result of my practical experiences). To this extent, HIS WORK IS ENRICHED WITH VARIOUS PRACTICAL CLINICAL CASES AND OBSERVATORY STUDIES, WHICH (HE HOPED) COULD BE USEFUL FOR LATER SURGEONS.

The whole work wants to be a brief and clear study of what Scarpa observed of la natura dei mali che affettano questa nobilissima parte del corpo umano (the nature of the diseases that affect this most noble part of the human body), with the only aim of finding the safer way to cure it. As Scarpa reminded in his preface, this is not supposed to be a complete treaty on the eyes’ diseases, but only on its main affections.

ANTONIO SCARPA (1752-1832) was an Italian physician, anatomist and surgeon. Introduced to the medical studies by his uncle, who believed in his talent, he started his career in Portogruaro’s Gymnasium and at the University of Padua, where he graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1770. He was treated by eminent professors like Girolamo Vandelli and Giovanni Battista Morgagni, becoming assistant of the latter. In 1772 he obtained the Chair of Medicine at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and in 1783 was called by the Viennese Court to the University of Pavia, famous scientific centre at that time. Friend with Alessandro Volta (1745-1827), they travelled together across Europe and experienced the scientific milieu of London, Wien and Paris. Especially interested in the physiology of the nervous system, Scarpa edited various works, which are still remembered for their importance and content’s originality. His contribution was relevant to the extant that some parts of the human body are maintaining his name in the medical nomenclature nowadays.

SCARPA’S HEAD IS NOW PRESERVED IN FORMALIN AND EXPOSED IN THE MUSEUM OF MEDICINE’S HISTORY IN PAVIA. There is no reliable explanation for the fact that his head had been chopped off. However, two are the most valuable hypothesis. The Italian surgeon was said to make use of his colleagues’ dead bodies for his anatomic studies so, maybe, he had been reserved the same treatment once dead. The second, more romantic theory considers the act as a sort of tribute. In fact Bartolomeo Panizza (1785-1867), one of Scarpa’s students, was used to say that «the head of great men should always be preserved, as the man resides all in his head».

REFERENCES: Becker Collection, 327; Brunet, V, 183; Garrison-Morton, 5835: «This beautifully illustrated work was the first text-book on the subject to be published in the Italian language. Its author has been called “the father of Italian ophthalmology”»; Graesse, VI, p. 291; Choulant, p. 298. Heirs of Hippocrates, 1106: «This classic work on ophthalmology remained the standard text for several decades, going through several editions and translations. It established Scarpa’s reputation as a leading ophthalmologist and is especially notable for its copperplate engravings of the anatomy of the eye, drawn by the anatomist». ; ICCU, IT\ICCU\RLZE\022172 and IT\ICCU\LO1E\004160; Norman, 1899; Waller, 8543; R.N. WEGENER, Das Anatomenbildnis (1939), pp. 117-118. WEGENER, Das Anatomenbildnis (1939), pp. 117-118. ALBERT (and others), Source book of ophthalmology, 2021: «The first systematic ophthalmologic textbook in Italian, noted for the clarity and beauty of its writing and its illustrations, this work bases its practical discussions on the known facts of anatomy, physiology, and optics. Translated into all the major European languages, it remained a high authority for many years».

Light waterstains and minor traces of dump at some pages; overall, very good copy in its original binding.