Handbook of Anatomy (1944)
Item
Title
Handbook of Anatomy (1944)
Description
Hamlet Frederick Aitken earned his Certificate in Elementary Drawing in 1895, and became a successful artist and medical illustrator. He worked with leading figures of American surgery and anatomy, including Harvard Medical School anatomy professor John Warren. Aitken illustrated more than 400 depictions of medical procedures for Warren’s Handbook of Anatomy to accompany descriptions of dissections. Their collaboration ended with a topographical atlas and handbook for dissection to train generations of doctors around the globe. Harvard University Press published five editions of the Handbook of Anatomy between 1930 and 1972, with the 1944 edition displayed here.
In the spirit of the Aitken/Warren partnership, in 2022 MassArt embarked on an initiative with Brigham and Women’s Hospital called the Medical Inclusion and Diversity Art Program. It is aimed at promoting diversity and representation of all kinds (race, ethnicity, gender identity, ability, and socioeconomic status) in the illustrations and visual artwork used in medical books, scientific literature, training, and patient engagement activities.
In the spirit of the Aitken/Warren partnership, in 2022 MassArt embarked on an initiative with Brigham and Women’s Hospital called the Medical Inclusion and Diversity Art Program. It is aimed at promoting diversity and representation of all kinds (race, ethnicity, gender identity, ability, and socioeconomic status) in the illustrations and visual artwork used in medical books, scientific literature, training, and patient engagement activities.
