Trepanning the Skull and Cautery Irons, Diderot Chirurgie Plate XVII, circa 1772

An original antique copper engraving, uncolored, from the Chirurgie plates of the Encyclopédie. Fig. 1, at the upper left, shows the trepan in use: a surgeon in a curled wig and coat with a cloth tied at the waist works a cranked brace, one hand pressing on its head and the other turning the crank, its point set through a square compress on the shaved head of a patient, while an assistant's hands hold the head steady. Fig. 2 shows two long, flat, tapering levers, one mounted on a two armed rest with padded feet; fig. 3, drawn twice, is a curved bridge shaped rest with a small screw fitting. Fig. 4 is a pair of pincers with serrated jaws. Figs. 5 to 8 are cautery irons on long stems with screw threaded ends, their heads shaped as a point, a button, a bell and a flat block. Figs. 9 and 10 are a disc and a triangle, fig. 11 a turned handle.

The plate number is lettered "Pl. XVII." at the top right, the section "Chirurgie." is lettered below the border, and the page number "80." stands at the lower left. It is signed at the lower right with the conjoined AB monogram followed by "s.", the mark the Venetian engraver Antonio Baratti used on the Livorno plates (his full signature, "Antonio Baratti s.", is lettered on Pl. XII of this section).

The Encyclopédie of Diderot and 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.

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