Bones Under Weights, Diderot Chirurgie Supplement Plate 8, circa 1778

An original antique copper engraving, uncolored, with two apparatus figures marked with an asterisk and a run of bone studies numbered 12 to 18. In Fig. 1 a long beam rests across the top of an upright board standing on a base; from one end, B, hangs a square pan loaded with lumps of weight, D, and the other end, A, is tied by cords to the top of a small bone whose lower end is fastened to a ring in the base, E. In Fig. 2 a bone is hung by cords from a rod laid between two blocks, C and D, with a weighted pan, E, tied to its lower end. Figs. 12, 14 and 15 are long bones cut lengthwise to show the spongy ends and the hollow shaft, with a separate inner piece, I, in Fig. 12. Fig. 13 is a split bone fragment, Fig. 16 a small bone wrapped in a band, Fig. 17 an opened slender bone, and Fig. 18 a small pointed implement.

The plate number "Suppl. Pl 8." is lettered at the top right, the section "Chirurgie." below the border, and the page number "151." at the lower left. No engraver's mark is lettered at the lower right.

The Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert was accompanied by volumes of engraved plates, the Recueil de planches. In the Livorno edition published by Giuseppe Aubert the plate volumes appeared between 1771 and 1778, with a supplement volume of plates in 1778 to 1779, the source of this plate. The Chirurgie plates set out surgical instruments, bandages and apparatus, keyed to an explanation in the text volume.

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