The Nervous System of the Whole Body, Hirschfeld Double Folding Plate, 1866

This antique Hirschfeld anatomy print of the nervous system of the whole body is Double Plate 73 and 74 from Hirschfeld and Leveille's Nevrologie atlas, an original hand-colored lithograph published in Paris by G. Masson in 1866. This folding sheet is one of the two showpieces of the atlas. It is a full profile half dissection of the head, neck and trunk of a bearded man, with the cranial and cervical nerves, the vertebral column and ribs, the heart, lungs, diaphragm, stomach and intestines all exposed in one continuous view. The nerve trunks and plexuses run as white cords the whole length of the body, and a long reference key runs down both margins.

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 double plate is a strong choice as a single statement piece for a medical practice, a study or a library, and it also anchors a wider collection of plates from the same atlas.

Condition is good. The sheet shows light age toning and scattered minor marks. A horizontal fold line crosses the sheet, with slight creasing and wear at the edges. 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.