“Rokitansky ranks with Morgagni as among the greatest of all writers on gross pathology. He is said to have performed over 30,000 autopsies himself. His ‘Handbuch’ was for many years pre-eminent among its contemporaries. He foresaw the eventual importance of chemical pathology, at that time non-existent.” (Garrison & Morton).

“Rokitansky was a first class anatomist, not the least of his service to pathology being the development of anecropsy method which in its anatomical logic and comprehension of detail insured an inspection of every part of the body in every examination. […] After Rokitansky names of diseases, like pneumonia and typhoid fever, conveyed to the well trained medical graduate an anatomical picture and not as theretofore, a list of symptoms of varying complexity” (Long, A History of Pathology, p. 107).
“Rokitansky extended Laennec’s description of emphysema, improved existing knowledge of pneumonia, noted the perforated gastric ulcer as a special type, and gave a classic description of acute yellow atrophy of the liver, also known as “Rokitansky’s disease.”. The first edition of his Handbuch attempted a revival of humoral pathology, based upon current physiological theory of a “blastemal” or primitive fluid substance from which formed elements were derived; under criticism from Virchow, who called Rokitansky’s hypothesis a “monstrous anachronism,” Rokitansky eliminated his humoral theories from the next two editions of the Handbuch” (Norman 1845).

Rokitansky published the volumes of his Handbuch in reverse order, issuing Vol. III in 1842, Vol. II in 1844 and Vol. 1 in 1846.

Norman 1845
Garrison & Morton 2293