Morgagni was the founder of modern pathological anatomy. The work was completed in Morgagni’s 79th year and consists of a series of 70 letters reporting about 700 cases and necropsies. As best he could, he correlated the clinical record with the post–mortem finding. Morgagni gave the first descriptions of several pathological conditions. He was Professor of Anatomy at Padua. Selections from the above work are reproduced in Med. Classics, 1940, 4, 640-839. English translation by B. Alexander, 3 vols., London, 1769, (facsimile reprint, New York, Hafner, 1960; Mount Kisco, N.Y., Futura, 1980).

Classic descriptions of mitral stenosis (Letter III) and heart block, Stokes–Adams syndrome (vol. 1, p. 70) are reprinted in English translation in Willius & Keys, Cardiac classics, 1941, pp. 177-82. In Volume one, p. 282 Morgagni also reported an authentic case of angina pectoris is recorded by Morgagni; he observed it in 1707.