Tortosa - Medicina Forense - 1809

THE BODY AS EVIDENCE AND CRIME AS SCIENCE: THE BIRTH OF FORENSIC MEDICINE
These “Institutions of Forensic Medicine” by Giuseppe Tortosa, published in Vicenza in 1809 in an expanded edition, represent one of the most significant moments in the systematization of forensic medicine in Italy. The volume stands at a crucial passage between medical knowledge and law, when the human body becomes evidence, an object of investigation, and the foundation of judicial truth. The work is not merely a technical manual, but an epistemic device that redefines the relationship between science and justice, introducing a rational and observational methodology. The presence of the engraved portrait of the author reinforces the authoritative and institutional character of the text.
MARKET VALUE
The Italian forensic medicine works of the early nineteenth century, especially in expanded and illustrated editions, present a niche but steady market. Complete copies (2 volumes) can reach 400–600 euros.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary binding with leather spine and marbled boards, decorated spine with gilt filets, binding damaged and detached from the text block. Engraved portrait of the author on the frontispiece. Volume I of two. Pages with some browning and physiological foxing. In antique books, with a long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 10nn; 248.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Institutions of Forensic Medicine. Vol. 1.
Vicenza, Tommaso Parise Typographia, 1809.
Giuseppe Tortosa.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Giuseppe Tortosa was one of the main figures of Italian legal medicine between the 18th and 19th centuries. His “Institutions” represent a systematic attempt to codify medical knowledge applied to law, in an era when justice began to be based on scientific evidence. The text tackles central issues such as the assessment of injuries, the determination of causes of death, and the analysis of physiological phenomena in a judicial context. In a European setting marked by the Enlightenment, works like this contribute to the transformation of medicine into an autonomous forensic discipline.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Giuseppe Tortosa (1736–1812) was an Italian physician and scholar, among the pioneers of forensic medicine in Italy. He operated during a period of profound scientific renewal, contributing to the spread of an empirical and systematic approach to studying the human body in relation to law.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The work was published in multiple editions from the late 18th to the early 19th century. The 1809 edition, corrected and expanded, testifies to the text’s fortune and its use in academic and legal settings. Printed in Vicenza by Tommaso Parise, it belongs to the Italian scientific output of the early nineteenth century aimed at a specialist audience. The multi-volume format reflects the breadth and systematic nature of the treatise.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ICCU/OPAC SBN, record for Tortosa, Institutions of Forensic Medicine (Vicenza, 1809)
Catalogues of Italian forensic medicine, 18th–19th centuries
Italian university libraries, historical medical fonds
Studies on the history of European forensic medicine
Biographical medical directories of Italy (entry Tortosa)