87th Table: a Skeleton Rising from a Tomb

The war of pamphlets that ensued between the two after William Cowper's atlas was published in 1698 did much to damage the reputation of both anatomists, although Govard Bidloo's involvement in other controversies with Frederik Ruysch and the University of Leiden may added more to the positive feedback loop that fed his reputation. 

Bidloo's accusations against Cowper were likely dismissed for a variety of reasons: at this point, Bidloo's publishers retained the rights to sell imprints of the plates, thus Cowper's purchase was legal in this regard; the Royal Society refused to become involved within the conflict, signifying its own dismissal of Bidloo's accusations; Bidloo's reputation as an anatomist was already tarnished by his many conflicts with Frederik Ruysch, the physicians that he worked with to attend to King William III's ailments, his continuously poor work ethic and dedication to the University of Leiden, and previously, to the Hague, and the poor reception and sale of his atlas which had already been declared anatomically inaccurate and scarce in descriptive quality. In addition, no formal international copyright law existed at the end of the seventeenth century. The Statute of Anne was not enacted until 1710, a decade after Bidloo and Cowper's conflict (though it was very likely impacted by the debate).

Inevitably, in comparing Govard Bidloo and William Cowper's atlases, the quality of each only compares through the illustrations; William Cowper provided an extensive text that benefitted anatomical study and development, unlike Bidloo's which provided only the bare diagrammatic labels of each table. William Cowper was also advantageous in publishing his anatomical atlas in 1698, as the study of anatomy in England was at its lowest point in the Early Modern period. With his publication, Cowper's popularity grew as his text became the staple for a century long endeavor in English anatomical study. Bidloo's atlas on the other hand, was quickly replaced by the work of C.B. Albinus, Hermaan Boerhaave, and other notable Dutch anatomists.