About 2000 books, pamphlets, and manuscripts donated by Virgilio Ducceschi (1871-1952) physiologist, historian of medicine and science, and collector of antique books of medical and scientific interest.
Ducceschi was born in Scansano and graduated from the University of Florence, later going on to specialize in Rome and Strasbourg. In his long academic career, he held the chair of Physiology in Italian and Argentine universities before being called to Padua in 1925. He was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei and the Istituto veneto di scienze lettere e arti, and a passionate scholar of the history of science, particularly medicine.
The collection includes numerous rare and valuable printed works from the 15th-20th centuries, mainly of medical and scientific interest: among them 1 copy of De humani corporis fabrica (1543) and 1 copy of the Epitome (1543) by Andrea Vesalio and the Myologie complete en couleur (1745-1748) by J. F. d'Agoty (1745-1748). A rare copy of the Musculorum humani corporis picturata dissectio (c. 1541) by Giovanni Battista Canani is now kept at the Centro per la Storia dell'Università di Padova.
Ducceschi also collected a small number of manuscripts and autographs including around 50 letters from Diacinto Cestoni (1637-1718) to Antonio Vallisneri (1661-1730).
The volumes were affixed with a printed collation label ‘V. Ducceschi' with a red frame.
The collection is available on the premises. Please contact the library for consultation.
E-mail: biblio.pinalimarsili@unipd.it
Phone: +39 049 8272134
