Decorated initial T with putti stringing a dog over the bar of the letter. Woodcut and letterpress, 1543.

The decorated initial heads a dedicatory letter, dated August 1542, to Philip II of Spain by Andreas Vesalius. In it Vesalius gives as one of his reasons for publishing the Epitome the threat of pirate editions of his work. He also stresses the fundamental importance of the study of anatomy and the harm that too great a reliance on compendia, without recourse to larger works, can do