A selective history of groin hernia surgery in the early 19th century. The anatomic atlases of Astley Cooper, Franz Hesselbach, Antonio Scarpa, and Jules-Germain Cloquet.

One of the most important eras in the evolution of groin hernia surgery is that of the early 19th century. It was a time when cadaver dissections and diverse clinical studies culminated in a more thorough anatomic understanding of the inguinal canal. For reasons cloaked in permanent historical uncertainty, the style of hernia textbook publishing also dramatically changed at the turn of the 19th century when sumptuous anatomical atlases, exemplified by those of Astley Cooper, Franz Hesselbach, Antonio Scarpa, and Jules-Germain Cloquet, began to appear. Characterized by the presence of numerous detailed engravings these texts were expensive to publish and often had limited print runs. The publishing history and clinical impact of these now rare hernia tomes are analyzed in this article.