1502 –1503 BONACCIOLI, Ludovico [Lodovico; Bonaciolus] (1475 – 1536)

Enneas muliebris.

This work was prepared for and dedicated to Lucrezia Borgia by her physician, Bonaccioli, who guided her through 14 pregnancies, the last of which was fatal to both mother and child. The first three chapters concern f…

GMN 9325 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/11507

1521 BERENGARIO DA CARPI, Giacomo (1460 – 1530)

Commentaria cum amplissimis additionibus super anatomia Mundini una cum textu ejusdem in pristinum et verum nitorem redacto.

Giacomo Berengario da Carpi (Jacobus Berengarius Carpensis, Jacopo Barigazzi, Giacomo Berengario da Carpi or simply Carpus) introduced iconography and independent anatomical observation into the teaching of anatomy. H…

GMN 367 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/441

1544 TROTA OF SALERNO, (Trotula) (1150 – )

Experimentarius medicinae. Continens Trotulae curandarum aegriudinum muliebrium ante, in & post partium lib. unicum, nusquam antea editum…[Georg Kraut]

First printed edition of the gynecological writings attributed to the woman physician, Trota, who is frequently called Trotula after the name of the collection of works with whom she is associated. Trota is said to ha…

GMN 6009.1 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7186

1566 WOLFF, Caspar [WOLF] (1525 – 1601)

Gynaeciorum, hoc est, de mulierum turn aliis, tum gravidarum, parientium et puerperarum affectibus et morbis, libri veterum ac recentiorum aliquot, partim nunc primum editi, partim multo quam antea castigatiores.

The first encyclopedia of gynecology and obstetrics, originally conceived by Conrad Gesner, who collected material for the purpose. Wolff, Gesner’s literary executor, added material and published the collection one ye…

GMN 6011 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7193

1573 PARÉ, Ambroise (1510 – 1590)

Deux livres de chirurgie. I. De la generation de l’homme… II. Des monstres tant terrestres que marins avec leurs portraits.

Many reports of real malformations are intermixed with mythical accounts. English translations, 1634, and later. Recent English translation, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1982. Digital facsimile of the 1573 ed…

GMN 534.51 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/1798

1586 –1588 WOLFF, Caspar [WOLF] (1525 – 1601)

Gynaeciorum sive de mulierum affectibus commentarii Graecorum, Latinorum, barbarorum, iam olim & nunc recens editorum: in tres tomos digesti, et necessariis passim imaginibus illustrati. 4 vols.

A hugely enlarged version of No. 6011, with texts in Greek as well as Latin. Digital facsimile of vol. 1 from Google Books at this link.

GMN 6012 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7196

1597 PINEAU, Séverin ( – 1619)

Opusculum physiologum & anatomicum in duos libellos distinctum: In quibus primùm, de integritatis & corruptionis virginum notis, deinde, de grauiditate & partu naturali mulierum in quo ossa pubis & ilium distrahi, dilucidè tractatur ....

In 1595 Pineau demonstrated the vestigial foramen ovale in the adult heart, settling the question of the perviousness of the septum of the heart. His work was first published in 1597. He published this study in a fran…

GMN 802 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/163

1597 SPACH, Israel (1560 – 1610)

Gynaeciorum sive de mulierum tum communibus, turn gravidarum, parientum, et puerperarum affectibus et morbis, libri Graecorum, Arabum, Latinorum veterum et recentium quotquot extant, parti nunc primum editi, partim vero denuo recogniti, emendati, necessariis imaginibus exornati, & optimorum scriptorum autoritatibus illustrati.

Spach was the editor of this collection of gynecological writings. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

GMN 6013 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7200

1603 RODRIGUES DE CASTELO BRANCO, João (Amato Lusitano; Amatus Lusitanus) (1511 – 1568)

De universa mulierum medicina, novo et antehac a nemine tentato ordine opus absolutissimum. Et studiosis omnibus utile, medicis vero pernecessarium. Pars prima theorica. Quatuor comprehensa libris, in quibus cuncta, quae ad mulieribus naturam, anatomen, semen, menstruum,… Pars secunda, sive praxis …. 2 parts in 1.

The first treatise on gynecology written by a Portuguese author, the work was written in two parts: Part one, about theory, was titled De natura mulierum (On female nature) and was divided into four books: (1) Anatomy…

GMN 11873 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14077

1606 GUINTER VON ANDERNACH, Johannes [Johannes Guinterius; Johannes Winter; Jean Guenther] (1505 – 1574); SCHENCK VON GRAFENBERG, Johann Georg (1560 – 1620)

Gynaeciorum commentarius, de gravidarum parturientium, puerperarum & infantium, cura… Accessit elenchus auctorum in re medica cluentium, qui gynaecia scriptis clararunt & illustrarunt. Opera e studio Joan. Georgii Schenkii …

Schenck compiled the first bibliography of gynecology, entitled Pinax auctorum in re medica, Graecorum, Latinorum priscorum, Arabum Latinobarbarorum, Latinorum recentiorum, tum & peregrinis liniguis cluentium, Exstant…

GMN 6013.1 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7201

1612 DUVAL, Jacques (1555 – 1615)

Traité des hermaphrodits parties génitales accouchements des femmes et traitement qui est requis pour les relever en santé, et bien élever leurs enfants. Où sont expliquez la figure des laboureur, et verger du genre humain, signes de pucelage, defloration, conception, et la belle industrie dont use nature en la promotion du concept et plante prolifique.

In 1601 the Rouen physician Duval was summoned by the Rouen parlement to examine Marie Le Marcis, who at the age of 20 had discovered she was a man and had determined to marry, only to be imprisoned for lesbianism and…

GMN 9518 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/11703

1643 BAILLOU, Guillaume de [BALLONIUS] (1538 – 1616)

De virginum et mulierum morbis liber.

GMN 6014 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7203

1663 ROONHUYZE, Hendrick van (1622 – 1672)

Heel-konstige aanmerkkingen betreffende de gebreeken der vrouwen.

Roonhuyze’s book is regarded as the first work on operative gynecology in the modern sense. He successfully performed caesarean section several times, and he used retractors for the repair of vesicovaginal fistulae. E…

GMN 6015 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7207

1703 FREIND, John (1675 – 1728)

Emmenologia: In qua fluxus mulierbris menstrui phaenomena, periodi, vitia cum medendi methodo, ad rationes mechanicas exiguntur.

Translated into English as Emmenologia: Written, in Latin, by the late learned Dr. John Freind. Translated into English by Thomas Dale, M.D. London: Printed for T. Cox, 1729. Digital facsimile of the 1752 English tran…

GMN 11667 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/13868

1724 STAHL, Georg Ernst (1660 – 1734)

Ausführliche Abhandlung von den Zufällen und Kranckheiten des Frauenzimmers.

GMN 6016 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7210

1726 HOUSTOUN, Robert [HOUSTON] (1678 – 1734)

An account of a dropsy of the left ovary of a woman, aged 58, cured by a large incision made in the side of the abdomen.

Houstoun was the first to treat ovarian edema by tapping the cyst, 1701. For biographical note, see J. Obst. Gynaec. Brit. Comw., 1973, 80, 193-200.

GMN 6017 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7216

1735 –1756 PFANNENSTIEL, Hermann Johann (1862 – 1909)

Ueber die Vortheile der suprasymphysären Fascienquerschnitts für die gynäkologischen Koeliotomieen.

“Pfannenstiel’s incision”.

GMN 6113 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7554

1752 EISENMANN, George Heinrich (1693 – 1768)

Tabulae anatomicae quatuor uteri duplicis.

Atlas of bipartite and double uterus.

GMN 6018 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7219

1761 –1765 ASTRUC, Jean (1684 – 1766)

Traité des maladies des femmes. 6 vols.

Mettler considers this “the most pretentious gynecologic work of the [eighteenth] century… chiefly useful for its historical orientation”. English translation, 3 vols., London, 1762-67.

GMN 6019 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7222

1771 HUNTER, William (1718 – 1783)

Appendix to Lynn’s The history of a fatal inversion of the uterus.

First accurate description of retroversion of the uterus.

GMN 6020 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/8962

1789 BAILLIE, Matthew (1761 – 1823)

An account of a particular change of structure in the human ovarium.

Matthew Baillie’s notable anatomico-pathological studies on dermoid cysts of the ovary. Also published in Lond. med. J., 1789, 10, 322-32.

GMN 6021 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7229

1793 SOEMMERRING, Samuel Thomas von (1755 – 1830)

Ueber die Wirkungen der Schnürbrüste.

Soemmerring enumerated the bad effects of tight corsets on the internal organs of women. His book created much interest and resulted in a great decline in the fad of tight lacing and hoop skirts. This is the second ed…

GMN 6022 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7232

1799 HOME, Sir Everard (1756 – 1832)

Account of the dissection of an hermaphrodite dog.

Home records (p. 162) that John Hunter suggested artificial insemination. The actual insemination was performed by the patient’s husband with a syringe.

GMN 6162 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7745

1817 MCDOWELL, Ephraim (1771 – 1830)

Three cases of extirpation of diseased ovaria.

McDowell was a pioneer ovariotomist. Although not the first to perform this operation, he deserves credit for putting it upon a permanent basis. The above records his first ovariotomy, performed in 1809, together with…

GMN 6023 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7235

1817 KING, John (1774 – 1840)

Case of an extra-uterine foetus, produced alive through an incision made into the vagina of the mother, who recovered after delivery, without any alarming symptoms.

Reports the first successful vaginotomy for abdominal pregnancy, as opposed to an abdominal laparotomy.

GMN 6166 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7754

1821 GARDANNE, Charles-Pierre-Louis de (1788 – )

De la ménopause, ou de l'age critique des femmes; Traité dans lequel sont exposés du description anatomique et physiologique de l'utérus à la ménopause, les changemens que cette époque opère tant sur le physique que sur le moral de la femme, les moyens hygiéniques qui doivent être alors employés, enfin les maladies qui surviennent ordinairement à l'âge critique. Seconde edition.

In this work, a revised second edition of Gardanne's Avis aux femmes qui entrent dans l'age critique (1816), Gardanne coined the term menopause. Digital facsimile of the 1816 edition from the Internet Archive at this …

GMN 10546 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/12739

1822 SMITH, Nathan (1762 – 1829)

Case of ovarian dropsy, successfully removed by a surgical operation.

Smith was the first in the U.S.A. after McDowell to perform ovariotomy, for ovarian edema. Smith was apparently without knowledge of the previous operations of McDowell.

GMN 6024 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7239

1824 SIEBOLD, Adam Elias Von (1775 – 1826)

Ueber den Gebärmutterkrebs, dessen Entstehung und Verhütung.

Classic account of cancer of the uterus.

GMN 6025 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7241

1825 LIZARS, John (1794 – 1860)

Observations on extraction of diseased ovaria.

Lizars performed the first (unsuccessful) ovariotomy in Britain. His book made generally known the practical possibility of this operation.

GMN 6026 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7246

1825 DAVIS, David Daniel (1777 – 1841)

Elements of operative midwifery.

Davis introduced a number of improvements in instruments and techniques: “It outlines rules and precautions for undertaking operations, described the use of various forms of forceps, and provided twenty detailed plate…

GMN 14215 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16531

1826 DEWEES, William Potts (1768 – 1841)

A treatise on the diseases of females.

First American textbook on gynecology.

GMN 6026.1 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7249

1829 STRACHAN, John B.

Case of successful excision of the cervis uteri in a scirrhous state.

First successful excision of the cervix in America. Reported by T. F. Gillan.

GMN 6027 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7251

1833 BOIVIN, Marie Anne Victoire (1773 – 1841); DUGÈS, Antoine Louis (1798 – 1838)

Traité pratique des maladies de l’utérus et de ses annexes. 2 vols. and atlas.

Boivin and Dugès practiced amputation of the cervix for chronic ulceration. On page 648 of vol. 2 is the first recorded case of cancer of the female urethra. English translation, 1834.

GMN 6028 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7255

1834 GOSSET, Montague (1792 – 1854)

Calculus in the bladder. Incontinence of urine. Vesico-vaginal fistula. Advantages of the gilt-wire suture.

Gosset repaired a vesicovaginal fistula of eleven years’ duration, using silver gilt-wire, removed after 9, 12 and 21 days respectively.

GMN 6028.1 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7306

1834 ROUX, Philibert Joseph (1780 – 1854)

Mémoire sur la restauration du périnée chez la femme dans les cas de division ou de rupture complète de cette partie.

Roux was the first to suture the ruptured female perineum.

GMN 6029 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7311

1834 GRANVILLE, Augustus Bozzi (1783 – 1872)

Graphic illustrations of abortion and the diseases of menstruation. Consisting of twelve plates from drawings engraved on stone, and coloured by Mr. J. Perry, and two copperplates from the Philosophical transactions, coloured by the same artist. The whole representing forty-five specimens of aborted ova and adventitious productions of the uterus, with preliminary observations, explanations of the figures, and remarks anatomical and physiological.

Concerns miscarriage and aberrant gestation rather than removal or expulsion of embryo or fetus. Digital facsimile from wellcomecollection.org at this link.

GMN 14017 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16324

1838 SORANUS OF EPHESUS (ΣΩΡΑΝΌΣ) (100 – 150); DIETZ, Friedrich Reinhold (1805 – 1836)

De arte obstetricia morbisque mulierum quae supersunt. Ex apographo Friderici Reinholdi Dietz, nuper fato perfuncti primum edita.

Greek editio princeps of Soranus, based on manuscripts Dietz discovered in Paris and Rome, and published after the early death of the editor. Soranus was the leading authority on the gynecology and obstetrics of antiq…

GMN 6008 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7178

1839 HAYWARD, George (1791 – 1863)

Case of vesico-vaginal fistula, successfully treated by an operation.

Hayward’s successful treatment of vesicovaginal fistula was performed after Mettauer’s, although reported earlier.

GMN 6030 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7314

1840 METTAUER, John Peter (1787 – 1875)

Vesico-vaginal fistula.

The first successful operation for vesicovaginal fistula is believed to be that performed in August 1838, by Mettauer, a Virginian gynecologist. He introduced metallic sutures and a retention catheter.

GMN 6031 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7316

1840 WILTON, William (1809 – 1899)

Hydatids, terminating fatally, by haemorrhage.

First report of a chorionic tumor.

GMN 6031.1 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7319

1842 CLAY, Charles (1801 – 1893)

Cases of peritoneal section, for the extirpation of diseased ovaria, by the large incision from sternum to pubes, successfully treated.

Clay, pioneer ovariotomist in Great Britain, introduced the word “ovariotomy”. (See also his later paper, No. 6054.)

GMN 6032 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7323

1842 –1843 RÉCAMIER, Joseph Claude Anthelme (1774 – 1852)

Invention du spéculum plein et brisé.

Description of the speculum invented by Récamier.

GMN 6033 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7326

1843 ATLEE, John Light (1799 – 1885)

Case of ovarian tumors – both the right and the left being removed at the same operation.

First successful double oöphorectomy. Communicated in a letter to the editor by J. M. Foltz.

GMN 6034 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7329

1843 SIMPSON, Sir James Young (1811 – 1870)

Contributions to the pathology and treatment of disease of the uterus.

Simpson introduced many important procedures into gynecology and obstetrics; among them may be mentioned his use of the uterine sound for diagnosing retro-positions of the uterus

GMN 6035 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7331

1844 –1845 DONNÉ, Alfred François (1801 – 1878); FOUCAULT, Jean Bernard Léon (1819 – 1868)

Cours de microscopie. 1 vol. and atlas.

Donne's and Foucault's work was the first biomedical textbook to be illustrated with images made from photomicrographs, in this case daguerreotypes of blood cells. Among its noteworthy images are the first microphotog…

GMN 267.1 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/8743

1845 BENNET, James Henry (1816 – 1891)

A practical treatise on inflammation, ulceration, and induration of the neck of the uterus.

Bennet was the first to differentiate between benign and malignant uterine tumors.

GMN 6036 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7335

1851 ATLEE, Washington Lemuel (1808 – 1878)

A table of all the known operations of ovariotomy. From 1701-1851.

Atlee is said to have performed ovariotomy 387 times; with his brother John he firmly established the operation in the U.S.A.

GMN 6038 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7342

1852 SIMS, James Marion (1813 – 1883)

On the treatment of vesico-vaginal fistula.

Original description of Sims’s operation for the treatment of vesicovaginal fistula; also describes “Sims’s position, the knee–chest position. Reprinted in Med. Classics, 1938, 2, 677-712.

GMN 6037 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7340

1853 ATLEE, Washington Lemuel (1808 – 1878)

The surgical treatment of certain fibrous tumours of the uterus.

Atlee was among the first to study the surgical removal of uterine fibroids.

GMN 6039 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7346

1854 BURNHAM, Walter (1808 – 1883)

Extirpation of the uterus and ovaries for sarcomatous disease.

First successful abdominal hysterectomy, 25 May, 1853. An account of Burnham’s work is given by J. C. Irish in Trans. Amer. med. Ass. 1878, 29, 447-61.

GMN 6040 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7349