Alfort Veterinary School, Antique French Veterinary Print, 1873

This antique print of the Alfort veterinary school shows the Ecole Veterinaire d'Alfort in the Seine, drawn and lithographed by V. Rose for the French agricultural album of the Vienna Exposition, 1873. The tall students' block stands on the left, and the anatomy amphitheatres and monumental arched gateway on the right, with figures and a horse in the open yard behind a planted parterre.

Alfort, founded in 1765, is the second oldest veterinary school in the world and still in use, so the view has a strong appeal for veterinarians and for collectors of the history of animal medicine.

The sheet comes from the folio of maps, plans and drawings that the Direction de l'Agriculture of the French Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce assembled for its own exhibit at the Exposition Universelle held in Vienna in 1873, printed in Paris by the Imprimerie Nationale. The album gathered the statistical cartography, the model state farms, the breed portraits and the prize silver by which France meant to present its agriculture to the world. Its thematic maps belong to the first generation of printed statistical mapping, a field now collected for the history of data visualisation quite as much as for the history of farming.

The print is a lithograph, issued in 1873. It is uncolored. This antique print of the Alfort veterinary school would suit a study, library or office, and it will appeal to collectors of French architectural views and of agricultural or veterinary history.

The sheet is in good condition, with age toning, scattered foxing and minor marginal discoloration. Several stains and handling marks are visible along the lower edge. The toning is the ordinary result of age rather than damage. Please see the images for a full view of the condition.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.