Opened Abdomen and Bladder Dissection, Diderot Chirurgie Plate XIV, circa 1772
€ 330
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1772
Mapmaker / artist
Fambrini
Publisher
Giuseppe Aubert, Livorno
Technique
Copper Engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13259-16
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. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left. One larger brown mark.
About this sheet
An original antique copper engraving, uncolored, from the Chirurgie plates of the Encyclopédie. It shows the lower trunk of a body laid on a draped table, the abdominal wall cut open and a large flap turned back. Within, a smooth, rounded, distended bladder fills the opening, with coils of intestine heaped at the right, branching vessels running across the lower part and the cut edges of the tissue forming a rim around the opening. A hand in a gathered cuff at the top holds the flap back, while a second hand at the left holds an instrument with a ring at the grip and pushes its long, slender pointed rod horizontally into the body below the opening, toward the lower side of the bladder. A table with a heavy cloth and a molded leg fills the lower half. There are no figure numbers.
The plate number is lettered "Pl. XIV." at the top right, the section "Chirurgie" is lettered below the border, and the page number "76" stands at the lower left. It is signed at the lower right "Fambrini Fec:".
Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie was accompanied by volumes of engraved plates, the Recueil de planches. The Livorno edition was published by Giuseppe Aubert, with its plate volumes appearing between 1771 and 1778, and this plate comes from its Chirurgie section, which sets out surgical instruments, bandages and apparatus and shows operations, the figures numbered and 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. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left. One larger brown mark.
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.
