Long Probes and Anatomical Specimens, Diderot Chirurgie Plate V, circa 1772

An original antique copper engraving, uncolored, in five numbered figures. Down the left run three very long slender instruments: a twisted shaft with a rough rounded knob at its tip, set in a turned and faceted wooden handle (Fig. 1), a smooth rod ending in a cluster of small wire loops (Fig. 2), and a twisted wire with a single small loop at its end (Fig. 3). At the right are two anatomical specimens. The upper one is a large rounded mass opened lengthwise to show a cavity lined with transverse folds and a stippled area at its floor, seated on a branching base cut through at its four ends, the cut faces drawn in section, with short rounded stubs hanging below (Fig. 4). The lower one is a sac opened out with lobed, irregular edges, a smooth fold lying inside it, and above it a coiled mass of looped tissue gathered by a fine thread (Fig. 5).

The plate number "Pl. V." is lettered at the top right outside the border, the section title "Chirurgie." is centered below the border, and the page number "66." is at the lower left. No engraver's signature is lettered at the lower right or anywhere else on the plate.

The plate belongs to the Chirurgie section of the Recueil de planches, the volumes of engraved plates that accompanied the Encyclopédie edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It comes from the Livorno edition published by Giuseppe Aubert, whose plate volumes appeared between 1771 and 1778. The Chirurgie plates set out surgical instruments, bandages and apparatus and show operations, with the figures numbered and keyed to an explanation printed in the text volume.

The sculptural shading of the specimens makes this a striking plate for a medical or natural history collection.

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