Forceps and Concealed Blade Instruments, Diderot Chirurgie Plate XV, circa 1772
€ 240
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1772
Mapmaker / artist
Antonio Baratti (AB monogram)
Publisher
Giuseppe Aubert, Livorno
Technique
Copper Engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13259-18
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the top edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left. Several larger brown marks.
About this sheet
An original antique copper engraving, uncolored, from the Chirurgie plates of the Encyclopédie, showing seven numbered figures. Fig. 1 is a pair of forceps with long looped arms and hooked ends crossing at a box joint; Fig. 2 is one arm of a similar instrument shown separately. Fig. 3 is a long, flat band in a gentle S curve. Fig. 4 is a slender shaft with a pear shaped sheath and a trefoil handle, a dotted outline marking the sweep of a blade around the sheath and another the outline of a handle. Fig. 5 is the same pear shaped head with an oval window open and a pointed blade standing out below it. Fig. 6 is a narrow two part instrument with a coiled finger ring. Fig. 7, across the foot of the plate, is a broad lance shaped blade on a straight shaft ending in a trefoil handle.
The plate number is lettered "Pl. XV." at the top right, the section "Chirurgie." is lettered below the border, and the page number "78." 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 Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert came with volumes of engraved plates, the Recueil de planches, and this sheet comes from the Chirurgie section of the Livorno edition published by Giuseppe Aubert, whose plate volumes appeared between 1771 and 1778. In this section the instruments, bandages and apparatus of surgery are set out and operations are shown, with numbered figures keyed to an explanation printed in the text volume.
The plate mark is visible around the image.
Condition: Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the top edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left. Several larger brown marks.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
