Opened Bladder with Instruments, Diderot Chirurgie Second Plate XIV, circa 1772

An original antique copper engraving, uncolored, from the Chirurgie plates of the Encyclopédie. It shows the lower trunk of a body on a draped table, with the abdominal wall opened and the bladder cut open to show its inner cavity, a fine rod visible inside it. Coils of intestine lie at the left and branching vessels run over the outer surfaces. A hand in a gathered cuff at the top holds the cut wall open; at the right one hand presses a dark cylindrical instrument with a pointed tip against the skin, while another hand below it guides a slender rod through the lower part of the body into the bladder. A further hand is drawn in fine dotted outline only, showing an alternative position. There are no figure numbers.

The plate number is lettered "Seconde Pl. XIV." at the top right, marking a second plate carrying the number XIV. The section "Chirurgie." is lettered below the border and the page number "77." stands at the lower left. It is signed at the lower right "Fambrini Fec:".

The Encyclopédie edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert was accompanied by volumes of engraved plates, the Recueil de planches. This plate belongs to the Chirurgie section of 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 plate mark is visible around the image.

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