Gregor Reisch, Margarita philosophica, Freiburg i. B.: J. Schott, 1503, Fijv, woodcut, leaf height 21.3 cm, Norton.c.32.

The Margarita philosophica, a compendium of university learning in twelve books, was compiled by Gregor Reisch (d. 1525), prior of the house of Carthusians at Freiburg; it was originally intended to be printed by the Basel printer Johannes Amberbach, who had commissioned the designs of the woodcuts for the book from Alban Graf by 1498. For some reason, this printing project faltered, and was then transferred to Johannes Schott, based at Strasbourg, who travelled to Freiburg to print the book there, perhaps under Reisch’s supervision.

This woodcut accompanies a section that discusses human reproduction, but the text does not refer to this figure or to the organs identified in it. The inscriptions indicate structures such as the heart surrounded by the lung, the diaphragm, liver, stomach and spleen, the two kidneys and the bladder. Traditional Latin names are used on the arm, such as ‘adiutorium’ for the humerus, the ‘duo focilia’ for the radius and the ulna, and the ‘rasceta’ for the carpus. None of these structures are discussed in the text, and it is likely that this image was copied from another manuscript or a printed book like Johannes Peyligk’s Compendium philosophiae naturalis (1499).