The Skin, Nail and Hair Follicle, Antique Hirschfeld Anatomy Print, 1866

This antique Hirschfeld anatomy print of the skin, nail and hair follicle is Plate 92 from Hirschfeld and Leveille's Nevrologie atlas, an original hand-colored lithograph published in Paris by G. Masson in 1866. This is the closing plate of the atlas, and its figures are largely magnified. They show a fingertip and its ridges, enlarged skin ridges with sweat pores, sections through the epidermis and dermis showing the papillae and papillary vessels, isolated epidermal cells, the nail in surface view and in section, and hair follicles in longitudinal section with their sebaceous glands and bulbs.

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 a dermatologist's consulting room, a study or a library, and as the final plate of the atlas it makes a natural companion to other sheets from the series.

Condition is good. The sheet shows light age toning, scattered foxing and minor marginal marks. There is noticeable gray staining in the lower-left margin, with slight edge wear. 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.