The Crystalline Lens, Antique Hirschfeld Anatomy Print, 1866

This antique Hirschfeld anatomy print of the crystalline lens is Plate 80 from Hirschfeld and Leveille's Nevrologie atlas, an original hand-colored lithograph published in Paris by G. Masson in 1866. Twelve figures show the lens and the interior of the eye. The lens is drawn from the front, side and behind, with isolated fragments, the lens fibres arranged in radiating sectors and the lens split into its three rayed segments, and a large horizontal section shows the whole eyeball with lens, vitreous, coats, eyelids and orbital fat.

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, and the sheet was printed by Lemercier of the rue de Seine. The technique is lithography, and the coloring is original hand color.

Leveille's plates are among the most admired anatomical illustrations of the nineteenth century. They are exact enough to teach from, yet drawn with a restraint that keeps them beautiful rather than merely clinical, and a Hirschfeld anatomy print of this kind will interest collectors of scientific illustration and the history of medicine. This hand-colored lithograph would suit an ophthalmologist's or optician's consulting room, a study or a library, and it works well hung in a series with other plates on the eye from the same atlas.

Condition is good. The sheet shows light age toning, scattered foxing and minor marginal marks. There is slight staining and wear along the lower and right edges, with faint handling creases. The toning is ordinary for paper of this age. Please review the images for further condition details.

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