One of the world's most famous reference books: Gray's Anatomy

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The English anatomist Henry Gray studied endocrine glands and spleen and in 1853 was appointed Lecturer on Anatomy at St George's Hospital Medical School in London, says Wikipedia.

In 1855, he approached his colleague Henry Vandyke Carter with his idea to produce an inexpensive and accessible anatomy textbook for medical students.

Dissecting unclaimed bodies from workhouse and hospital mortuaries through the Anatomy Act of 1832, the two worked for 18 months on what would form the basis of the book.

Their work was published in 1858 in England.

Gray died in 1861, at the age of 34, having contracted smallpox[1] while treating his nephew (who survived).

The work on his much-praised book was continued by others.