Georg Bartisch was born in 1535 in Konigsbruck, a small town sixteen miles from Dresden, Germany. At the age of thirteen, he began studying surgery and was an apprentice to experienced surgeons, oculists, and lithotomists.

Later, as a surgeon in his own right, he traveled to various market towns throughout Saxony, Silesia, and Bohemia treating patients in the market, as was the custom. Eventually he settled in Dresden, where his reputation as a skilled and successful oculist grew.

In 1583, Bartisch published the Ophthalmodouleia primarily with his own funds. Part manual and part self-promotion, the book was the first of its type to be written in the German vernacular and was meant to be read by the layman, as well as the surgeon. In 1588, he was assigned court oculist to August I, Elector of Saxony, and continued working in Dresden until his death around 1607.

Removing a man's cataract

In the Ophthalmodouleia, Bartisch covers a variety of eye problems along with the surgical techniques and remedies he used to cure them. A skilled inventor as well as surgeon, he designed many of his surgical instruments himself.

His most daring operation was the complete removal of the eyeball and the contents of the orbit, using a knife-shaped spoon which he developed himself.

A thoughtful healer, Bartisch's diagnosis and remedies were nevertheless steeped in the superstition that surrounded illness and infirmity at that time. He claims to have witnessed many cases of defects and injuries to the eye resulting from witchcraft, magic or the work of the devil.

The illustrations at left include some of the amulets Bartisch prescribed for his patients to counter the effects of the supernatural.