Alfredo Moreno-Egea; Carlos Moreno-Latorre & Alfredo Moreno-Latorre

The illustrated atlases of the 17th century were a necessity to facilitate the learning of surgeons and physicians. In the Renaissance and Baroque, copying was frequent; the most classic example being the use of Govard Bidloo's plates by William Cowper. The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between both works and their authors within the social context of the publication, in order to try to explain the origin of the largest plagiarism in the history of medicine. A review of the literature from the databases PubMed, LILACS, Cochrane Library; “Google” and university libraries was realized. A critical analysis of the literature found was carried out. Copies of the atlases responded to a social need: to spread science in Europe, to facilitate anatomical and surgical education. Copies were favored by the high power of the printing guild. Bidloo's atlas belongs to the select group of works that transcend history to become universal, it maintains its artistic charm and is the scientific example of a turbulent era. Lairesse breaks with the idealistic Vesalian tradition and brings unprecedented realism to the anatomical figures, bringing the dissection process to life. Cowper's work cannot be considered plagiarism from a contextual point of view, there was no legislation in force. Both Bidloo and Cowper were great anatomists who should be remembered for their individual contributions, one brought surgical anatomy to Eastern Europe and Russia, and the other opened the way for scientific surgery in England.

KEY WORDS: Govard Bidloo; William Cooper; Plagiarism; Anatomy; Medical education.

MORENO-EGEA, A.; MORENO-LATORRE, C. & MORENO-LATORRE, A. Análisis contextual del plagio más famoso de la historia de la medicina: Govard Bidloo versus William Cowper. Int. J. Morphol., 43(6):1943-1953, 2025.