Scissors, Scalpels and Bistouries, Diderot Chirurgie Plate I, circa 1772
€ 220
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-13259-2
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. Complete sheet, all four corners present. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left.
About this sheet
An original antique copper engraving, uncolored, setting out cutting instruments in fourteen numbered figures. Across the top are a pair of straight scissors with large ring handles (Fig. 1), a long tapering handle drawn down to a small pointed end (Fig. 2), a lance shaped blade on a long grooved handle (Fig. 3), a smaller pair of scissors with long narrow blades (Fig. 4) and a fine straight probe with a button tip (Fig. 5). Below them stand two fixed blade scalpels on fluted, swelling handles (Figs. 6 and 7) and a pointed blade on a mottled handle (Fig. 8), then two narrow tapering leaves joined at a rolled head (Fig. 9) and a series of folding bistouries and lancets with mottled scales and rosette pivot rivets, drawn open at different angles (Figs. 10 to 14).
The plate number "Pl. I." is lettered at the top right outside the border, the section title "Chirurgie." is centered below the border, and the page number "62." stands at the lower left. It is signed at the lower right, just below the border, 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 plate belongs to the Chirurgie section of the Recueil de planches, the volumes of engraved plates that accompanied the Encyclopédie edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It comes from 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.
Condition: Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the top edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Complete sheet, all four corners present. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left.
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.
