Thomas Vicary was barber-surgeon to King Henry VIII during the 16th century. He also wrote extensively about anatomy. His “Anatomy of Man” was republished on this date in 1577. Four surgeons took it upon themselves to resuscitate Vicary’s tome; one of them, William Clowes, was barber-surgeon to King Henry’s younger daughter, Queen Elizabeth. (The three others were William Beton, Richard Stone and Edward Bayley.) Vicary’s book, whose exact title is “Anatomie of the Bodie of Man,” contained descriptions of human sexual organs and how human reproduction worked. The 16th century marks the dawn of modern medicine, largely attributable to physicians such as Vicary.

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