OPORINUS TO THE READER.

Since the Letter which we received from Italy, sent by Andreas Vesalius along with the woodcut blocks original: "Tabulis"; referring here to the carved wooden blocks used for printing the illustrations prepared for these books On the Fabric of the Human Body and their Epitome, seemed to us to contain many things of which the Reader should otherwise have been informed at the beginning—and which seemed necessary to point out to Printers (especially those who depend so little on the decrees of Princes and are born to corrupt those things published for the use of the literary world)—we have thought it worthwhile to communicate that letter to our fair-minded Readers, exactly as it was sent to us.

TO JOHANNES OPORINUS, PROFESSOR OF GREEK LITERATURE

AT BASEL,

his dearest friend.

Greetings.

Decorative ornamental initial 'A' with floral and vine patterns.
You will receive shortly, my Oporinus, through the Milanese merchants known as the Danoni, the engraved blocks for my books On the Fabric of the Human Body and for the Epitome of the same. I wish they may be carried to Basel as safely and intact as I have arranged them, with the diligent help of the engraver and Nicolaus Stopius (a young man remarkably well-versed in the humanities), so that they are not worn down in any part or suffer any other inconvenience during transport. Between the series of blocks, we have placed a sample copy bit by bit, together with a printed proof of each individual figure, on which I have written where each should be placed; this is so that the order and arrangement of them does not, by chance, cause trouble for you or your workmen, and so the figures are not printed out of sequence. In the sample copy, you will easily discern where the style of the typographic characters original: "genus characterum"; referring to the specific fonts or typefaces is to be changed. For I have distinguished with lines the part of the writing that encompasses the history of the organs—which is completed in each chapter in a continuous b. narrative context—from that part which serves to explain the characters that appear engraved in the plates. For this reason, that section is called the Index of figures and their characters. In the continuous narrative, never interrupted for the purpose of pointing out figures, you will weigh the small letters which you in the workshops call "superscripts" original: "superlineares"; small letters printed above the line of text; these correspond to those annotations which I have applied to the inner margin—not with as much skill as with labor and tedium—so that they might be like a commentary of the writers for the reader, expressing in which figure specifically the part under mention can be seen. Likewise, the annotations found on the outer margin propose, in a way, the sequence and argument of the things being narrated. In the inner margins, lest I be too wordy, I have observed this method: whenever a figure is indicated that is prefixed to the chapter where the annotation is seen, I indicate no chapter number; otherwise, I add it if the figure is placed before a different chapter. Again, if the figure is found in the book where the annotation occurs, I do not add the book number to the figure. Why indeed I thought the figures should be placed in this or that location, you will find explained in the titles of the books and generally in the indices of the characters. For in place of the marks with which parts were to be designated in any drawing, we have engraved in the blocks characters that are in perpetual use in the workshops: starting generally first with capitals, and then other Latin letters; furthermore, with lowercase Greek, then with the larger Greek letters which are not familiar to the Latins. When indeed all these were not enough, we adopted numbers, and whatever other small marks occurred in common type. In the description of these indices, it has been observed that a character acting as an indicator and having a single, private explanation is placed freely in the margin; but if it does not have its own index entry and is expressed, as it were, with another character, I have placed a dot beneath it in the margin, so that it might be encountered by the reader in sequence along with the others. But now, in every way I can, I exhort and likewise ask that everything be printed as neatly and as quickly as possible; and that in my endeavors you satisfy the expectation which everyone has conceived of your Printing House original: "Officina", now established for the first time with great benefit to studies and under a happy omen of the Muses. The greatest effort must be spent on the printing of the blocks, because they are not expressed in a common or school-bookish way, as if with simple lines alone; nowhere has the artistic nature of the picture been neglected (except perhaps for the ground upon which the drawn things are supported). And although you are strong in judgment here, and I promise myself everything from your industry and diligence, I would greatly desire this one thing: that during the printing you should imitate as closely as possible the sample which you will find enclosed with the wooden blocks, printed by the engraver as his specimen. For in this way, no character, however much it is hidden in shadow, will escape the keen-eyed and diligent reader. And what is by far the most artistic feature in this illustration—and for me most pleasant to see—is that the thickness of the lines in certain parts will appear together with an elegant darkening of shadows. But there is no need for me to prescribe these things to you, since it depends on the smoothness and density of the paper, and especially on the diligence of your workmen, that each item is presented most neatly from your Printing House and shared with many. I will take care to travel to you not so long after, and if not for the entire time of the printing, I will at least stay in Basel for a while, bringing with me the form of the decree of the Venetian Senate, by which it is provided that no one may print any of the plates without my consent, or imitate any of my writings in any way. As for the Emperor's privilege, although you have a general one for all books that you print first, my mother will send it to you from Brussels; for she has long since...