Henry Gray's Anatomy
A household name that has never been out of print, Henry Gray’s Anatomy requires little introduction. Changing the face of anatomical publishing when it was first printed in the 1850s, it is still considered the seminal text on the subject, with its editions reaching far into the hundreds.
With a wealth of illustrations scattered throughout its pages, Henry Gray’s Anatomy is a pedagogical masterpiece, building a legacy unlike any other text in the anatomical field and proving foundational in the combined disciplines science and art.
Henry Gray's Anatomy: Surgical and Descriptive
A scientific and artistic triumph, Gray’s Anatomy is one of the most iconic anatomical texts ever to be printed. Rediscover the original 1858 text and illustrations republished in this stunning tribute to the renowned work.
The Making of Henry Gray's Anatomy
Originally titled Anatomy; Surgical and Descriptive, the book began as the project of two young surgeons, Henry Gray FRS (1827–1861) and Henry Vandyke Carter MD (1831–1897), working together in the dissection theatre at St. George’s Hospital, London. Documenting their observations, the pair set out to create an affordable medical textbook for students studying surgery and anatomy. Aged just 31 and 27 when the first edition was published, they produced a volume that would go on to become the backbone of medical teaching.
Originally published in 1858, Henry Gray’s Anatomy was produced at the zenith of modern anatomical innovation in mid-Victorian London, showcasing the developments in medical knowledge and the technology of the time. Towards the middle of the nineteenth century, interest in the importance of surgery became more prolific than ever, seeing an uptake in the demand for corpses for study.
Before the Anatomy Act of 1832, it was legal to conduct dissections on the bodies of executed murderers, ushering in a period of grave robbing and body snatching for the purposes of scientific discovery. Yet by the 1850s, the increased medical interest combined with the reduction in executions led to a shortage of supply, and the illegal trade of corpses was booming. As a result of a public outcry to curb the black-market trade of the deceased, the Anatomy Act gave the right to medical professionals and students to dissect donated cadavers rather than those plundered illegally.
Carter and Gray were at an advantage with plenty of subjects at their disposal, having access to those in the hospital’s morgue, as well as the bodies of the dead from the Poor Law houses of London. Working in the anatomical theatre at St. George’s Hospital, which was then considered the best of its kind, their observations became a comprehensive and precise guide to the human body based on real-life studies, and backed up by the latest medical knowledge.
Henry Vandyke Carter: The Illustrator of Henry Gray's Anatomy
Traditionally, Henry Gray’s Anatomy is attributed to Henry Gray alone, but it would be half the book it is (both in physicality and influence) without the illustrations of his counterpart. For Henry Vandyke Carter, his work in Henry Gray’s Anatomy was not the first time he had been commissioned to illustrate scientific research.
In 1854, Gray employed him to produce illustrations for his foundational dissertation On the Structure and Use of the Spleen, later published as a book in that same year. Carter was a prolific diarist, and throughout the 1850s, his journals made countless references to creating drawings, paintings, and woodblock engravings for the work, yet he was not credited for it in the publication. Only when his earlier illustrations of the spleen were featured in Henry Gray’s Anatomy was he given full credit for his artistic contributions.
Over the three years that the book was in production, the relationship between the two young men soured. As their work progressed, differences in class and status drove them to disagreement. Gray, hailing from an upper-class background, was climbing his way through the ranks of St. George’s when the first edition was published. He was a highly credited surgeon with a considerable reputation as a lecturer on the subjects of anatomy and physiology, having achieved more in his short career than many others had at the same time.
Carter was a few years behind Gray in his medical studies and came from more humble beginnings as the working-class son of a marine artist from Scarborough. It’s evident from Carter’s diaries that his initial admiration for the young surgeon grew into resentment, often stating that he felt belittled by Gray, who believed himself to be the superior contributor due to his medical experience and qualifications.
Over the three years that the book was in production, the relationship between the two young men soured. As their work progressed, differences in class and status drove them to disagreement. Gray, hailing from an upper-class background, was climbing his way through the ranks of St. George’s when the first edition was published. He was a highly credited surgeon with a considerable reputation as a lecturer on the subjects of anatomy and physiology, having achieved more in his short career than many others had at the same time.
Carter was a few years behind Gray in his medical studies and came from more humble beginnings as the working-class son of a marine artist from Scarborough. It’s evident from Carter’s diaries that his initial admiration for the young surgeon grew into resentment, often stating that he felt belittled by Gray, who believed himself to be the superior contributor due to his medical experience and qualifications.
This aired in a dispute for credit when the first edition of Gray’s Anatomy was published. In the original print, the publisher gave shared credit to both the author and illustrator, with their names appearing in equally sized lettering on the title page and their qualifications listed in a smaller font underneath.
Gray disputed this and sought more royalties than Carter due to his heightened medical status. He requested that Carter’s titles be removed, claiming his lead on the project, however, the publisher believed the illustrations were as fundamental to the work as Gray’s narrative. A compromise was reached, and Carter’s qualifications were removed from the title page, but full and explicit credit for his work remained.
Publishing Gray's Anatomy
By the publishing standards of the mid-1800s, Gray’s Anatomy stood against the other anatomical textbooks as a unique publication in both style and form. In the rich history of medical illustration, volumes were traditionally grandiose, existing as large, expensive tomes of inaccessible language and romanticised illustrations of the human entity.
Texts by the likes of Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564) and Charles Estienne (1504–1564) produced in the sixteenth century feature elaborate illustrations of the body in varying poses and settings. These classical studies underpinned the field of anatomy as it stood in the nineteenth century, but they were seen as antiquated in both knowledge and imagery.
As the nineteenth century progressed, the popularity of the sciences increased, spurring a need for contemporary treatises on the subject for the purposes of education, pooling new knowledge and discoveries for a modern audience.
The purposefully sterile nature of Gray’s Anatomy placed it in a league of its own. Originally published in a brown clothbound edition, the deliberately style-less volume aimed to objectively observe the human anatomy, presenting illustrations that were as detailed and realistic as possible.
A far cry from the grand and aesthetically-led volumes on anatomy that simultaneously posed philosophical questions on the existence of man as well as documenting his make-up, Gray’s Anatomy gave an obtrusively clinical take on the subject in both illustration and narrative, placing the student as close to the dissecting table as one could get without physically witnessing it.
By creating an extensively detailed and illustrated volume that under-priced their competition, Gray’s Anatomy became a household name, appealing to both science and art students, with those in the art world hailing its true-to-nature approach to anatomical structure. With their intention to produce an affordable medical text for students, Carter and Gray created an accessible book not only in price but also visually and phonetically, therefore outrunning much of their competition.
The Legacy of henry gray's anatomy
As a volume that is continuously reimagined, Gray’s Anatomy has built a brand unlike any other. Its affordability, combined with its simplistic functionality, resulted in a volume that has been continuously republished and adapted as medical advancements have been made. As each edition renews the original text in line with contemporary research, the premise of the iconic publication remains true to itself.
Carter and Gray produced a volume that has proved invaluable in teaching anatomy over the centuries. The purposefully sterile nature of Gray’s Anatomy changed the face of medical publishing, anatomical study, and scientific illustration in one fell swoop. Unique in its style and form, the combination of text and image sustains its popularity in the arts and sciences, with those in both disciplines benefitting from the innovative presentation of the subject.
Continuously used in classrooms over the 150 years since it was published, Gray’s succinct narrative has provided an insight into the human form, unlike any other textbook in the field. However, it is the masterful union of text and image that places the publication in a league of its own.
A scientific and artistic triumph, Gray’s Anatomy is one of the most iconic anatomical texts ever to be printed. Rediscover the original 1858 text and illustrations republished in this stunning tribute to the renowned work.