The Base of the Skull and Its Dural Folds, Hirschfeld Anatomy Print, 1866

This antique anatomy print of the base of the skull and its dural folds is an original 1866 hand colored lithograph from Hirschfeld and Leveille's Nevrologie atlas, published in Paris by G. Masson. It is plate 5 in the atlas. The plate shows the interior of the base of the skull with the brain removed, the tentorium cerebelli spread over the posterior fossa and the dural folds and venous sinuses of the base laid out, with an isolated dural specimen and a length of the falx alongside.

The plate comes from the atlas to Ludovic Hirschfeld's Nevrologie et Esthesiologie, the second edition of his treatise and iconography of the human nervous system and the organs of sense, published in Paris by G. Masson in 1866. Every figure was drawn from life by J. B. Leveille directly from Hirschfeld's own dissections, printed as a lithograph by Lemercier of the rue de Seine, and colored by hand. Leveille's plates are among the most admired anatomical illustrations of the nineteenth century, exact enough to teach from and drawn with a restraint that keeps them beautiful rather than merely clinical.

For collectors of medical and scientific prints, this antique anatomy print joins precise observation with careful hand color. A single Hirschfeld plate makes a quietly striking picture for a study, library or consulting room, and several plates from the same atlas hang well together as a group.

This plate is in good condition for its age, with light age toning, minor foxing and small marks, mainly in the margins. The sheet also shows slight edge wear and a faint vertical crease near the left side. The toning is consistent with age, and the images show further condition details.

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