Abstract

GOMIZ LEON, Juan José. William Cheselden (1688-1752) and Gerard van der Gucht (1695-1776): Surgical technique, the art of printed images and controversy in the urology book of the XVIII century. Arch. Esp. Urol. [online]. 2009, vol.62, n.9, pp.695-701. ISSN 0004-0614.

We review the printed work of the English anatomist and surgeon William Cheselden, with special attention to the chalcographic engravings which illustrated it, mainly those by Gerard van der Gucht and the miniaturist Jacob Schijnvoet, vindicating the valuable collaboration of illustrators and printers and their essential figurative contribution to explain the texts and make them easier to understand for the reader. These images were as important as the texts and contributed considerable artistic value to the work. Likewise, we present the bitter controversy caused in the English medical-surgical society of the time, most especially in the lithotomist or "urology" community, by the publication of the work entitled "The High Operation for the Stone" by W. Cheselden. The publication coincided chronologically with the second edition of "Lithotomia Douglassiana" by John Douglas, and the scathing criticism hurled against Cheselden, one of the prime examples of which was the publication of the book entitled "Lithotomus Castratus"; in the book, both works were revised meticulously by its author, collated, analysed in detail and compared against each other, publically indicating that Cheselden plagiarised Douglas.

Keywords : William Cheselden; Gerard van der Gucht; John Douglas.

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