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Fabry, Wilhelm (1560-1634) & Marie Colinet (circa 1560-1640) Lithotomia Vesicae.
Basel: Ludwig Koenig, typis Joh. Schroeteri, 1628.
First Latin edition, quarto, woodcut printer's device to title, illustrated with twenty-one text woodcuts depicting surgical instruments; bound in contemporary limp parchment, contents browned due to poor paper quality, some staining, spotting, 7 3/4 x 6 in.
Fabry, called "the father of German surgery," married Colinet in 1587. At the time she was already a midwife in her own right. Although her husband instructed her in surgery, he also reported that she excelled him in skill. Born in Geneva, daughter of a printer, Colinet came up with the innovative practice of using heat to dilate the cervix to help facilitate childbirth during labor. Her proficiency in surgery was repeatedly demonstrated through the many caesarian sections she performed. Colinet is also credited as the first practitioner to use a magnet to safely remove an errant piece of metal lodged in a patient's eye. Her husband described her as "a constant source of help and happiness."
Fabry also writes about a complex surgery Colinet performed to repair broken ribs which involved wiring the bones together and covering the incision site with oil-based herbal plasters that successfully staved off post-surgical infection. He includes accounts of her innovative work in his own publications but has often been incorrectly credited with their invention.
VD 17, 12:194446Z; Waller 2901; Zachert/Zeidler II, 522; Hirsch/Hub. II, 463; Vgl. Krivatsy 3859 (English edition).
