Accurate and beautiful engravings of the diaphragm, uterus, ovaries, vagina, arteries, with explanatory observations. About fifty years after they were originally published the most visually spectacular versions of Haller's plates of the arteries were issued in reduced format brilliantly hand-colored in Anatomical plates of the arteries of the human body, accurately coloured, and reduced from the Icones of Haller: With a concise explanation (London: E. Cox, 1808). Digital facsimile of the original Latin edition from the Max Planck Institute of the History of Science at this link.

First investigation of the action of the intercostal muscles in respiration.

Haller was one of the most imposing figures in the whole of medicine, besides being a superb bibliographer and the founder of medical bibliography. As a physiologist he was the greatest of his time. Many apparently “new” discoveries of later times had already been accounted for by Haller. The above work includes (p. 259) Haller’s resonance theory, similar to that already propounded by Du Verney and (more than 100 years later) by Helmholtz (No. 1562).

Translated into English by Samuel Mihles as Dr. Albert Haller's physiology; being a course of lectures upon the visceral anatomy and vital oeconomy of human bodies. 2 vols. London, 1754

A greatly expanded version of Boerhaave's Methodus discendi medicinam (1726), resulting in a text perhaps triple or quadruple its original length.  While Boerhaave frequently cited classic authors in his lectures, Haller added extensive bibliographical lists to each chapter, with some entries annotated, resulting in a subject bibliography of useful works to the student, including many 16th century books. As knowledge did not necessarily progress very rapidly at the time, it is unclear whether Haller regarded works published even two centuries earlier as historical classics, or as still useful for their scientific information, or as both. Lindeboom, Bibliographia Boerhaaviana (1959) No. 98.

Glisson in 1677 had introduced the concept of “irritability” as a specific property of all tissues. Haller, in the above work, recorded his experimental proof of this, and distinguished between nerve impulse (sensibility) and muscular contraction (irritability). English translation, including preface by Simon André Tissot from the French translation, as A dissertation on the sensible and irritable parts of animals, London: J. Nourse, 1755. This includes a supplement by Haller and his "Essay on the cause of the motion of the heart." Abbreviated translation in Bull. Hist. Med., 1936, 4, 651-99.
Digital facsimile of the 1755 translation from the Internet Archive at this link.

(Thanks to Malcolm Kotter for information regarding the English translations of this entry.)

In these memoirs Haller described the results of 235 vivisections. Haller has been called "the founder of modern haemodynamics." "The myogenic theory of the heartbeat can be traced to Haller, who concluded on the basis of animal experiments that the heart beat spontaneously, independent of nervous or other connections. He argued that the heart muscle had intrinsic irritability" (W. Bruce Fye). Translated into English as A dissertation on the motion of the blood, and on the effects of bleeding. Verified by experiments made on living animals. To which are added, observations on the motion. [with] A second dissertation on the motion of the blood. London, 1757.

Heinrich Buess, "William Harvey and the foundation of modern haemodynamics by Albrecht von Haller," Medical History, 14, 175-182.

Haller synthesized the whole physiological knowledge of his time. In the above, probably his greatest work, Haller included some anatomical descriptions which were most valuable. He is said to have written more than 1300 scientific papers.

The first 5 vols. of this work were issued in Lausanne; vols. 6-7 in Berne.

Haller devised a numerical method to demonstrate the rate of growth of the fetus, showing that the rate of growth is relatively rapid in the earlier stages but that the tempo gradually decreases. He calculated the rate of growth of the chick and of the human embryo.

Reprints and updates Haller’s earlier essays on various malformations. This work marks the beginning of scientific teratology, placing it on a foundation of sound anatomical description.

This was the first of the several bibliographies compiled by Haller, one of the greatest figures in the history of medicine. The work contains the most exhaustive and thorough information of the writings in the field of botany then extant. Choulant considered that the bibliographies on botany and anatomy were the best of Haller’s works.

Haller is one of the greatest names in medical bibliography. While pursuing his monumental scientific career he found time to compile bibliographies of botany, anatomy, medicine and surgery which together form the most exhaustive summary of previous writings on these subjects. Reprinted, Hildesheim, G. Olms, 1969.

Reprinted, Hildesheim, G. Olms, 1971.

Haller compiled four great bibliographies dealing respectively with botany, anatomy, surgery, and medicine. They formed the most complete reference work of the time, consisting of a classified analysis of over 52,000 publications of all countries. Additions and corrections to Haller’s Bibliothecae were published by C.G. Murr, Adnotationes ad bibliothecas Hallerianas, Erlangen, 1805. 

This is illustrated with a small cameo portrati of Haller drawn and engraved by William Blake. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Haller's library, which comprises 15,000 volumes and 145 manuscripts, was purchased in 1778 by order of Emperor Joseph II, son of Maria Theresa of Austria, and donated to the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense in Milan.

"The Swiss polymath Albrecht von Haller (1708–1777) was one of the central figures of the century of the Enlightenment. As a poet and scholar, physician and botanist, collector and encyclopaedist, university professor and experimental researcher, society president and correspondent, renowned author and influential reviewer, magistrate and orthodox Christian, he reflects many of the intellectual movements, events, and conditions of his time.

"Interest in Haller as a paradigmatic representative of the 18th Century has grown rapidly over the past years. Recent research has shown a growing awareness of the diverse nature of the Age of Enlightenment and an increasing interest in the functioning of the republic of letters and its interactions with economics, politics, and society. Haller’s rich life and work, his immense and multifaceted body of publications, and the extraordinarily extensive collection of handwritten documents he left at his death offer an ideal starting point for understanding and studying the century in which he lived.

"This website is intended to serve as a platform for all who are interested in Haller and his times. It offers an abundantly illustrated introduction to Haller’s life and work, information about the principal fields of endeavour in which he was engaged, insights into past and present research, and an index of the large body of Haller’s original writings available online."

This website also includes an expansion of the standard bibliography of Haller's writings by Steinke and Profos, as well as links to hundreds of published works by Haller available online.