Unknown artist - Chirurgie

Set of 4 original engravings — Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopedia
& d'Alembert, Surgery volume
Pellet Edition, Geneva, 1779 — more than 245 years ago

✦ The Encyclopedia of Diderot and d'Alembert is the most ambitious intellectual work of the 18th century — 35 volumes published between 1751 and 1772, involving more than 150 contributors including Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu. Its aim: to gather and transmit the entirety of human knowledge at a time when knowledge was still reserved for an elite.

These surgical plates belong to the Collection
of engravings printed in intaglio on period laid paper — visual documents of remarkable precision and audacity for their time. Unlike instrument plates, these depict surgical operations in progress: patients, surgeons, assistants — all shown with scientific rigor that captures the very spirit of the Enlightenment: daring to look, daring to document.

① Pl. 11 and 12 — Instruments + operation on a chair: three surgeons operate on a seated patient, supported by two assistants. A scene of rare intensity.

② Pl. 13 and 14 — Lateral section of the Hypogastric region: abdominal operation in two anatomical views — the surgeon's hands in full action on the patient.

③ Pl. 13 and 15 — Scalpel, Perineum and Abscess: incision techniques with anatomical views in cross-section.

④ Pl. 24, 25 and 25 — Surgery of the senses: eyes, ears, nose, dental instruments — at a time when operating on cataracts without anesthesia demanded absolute speed and precision.

✦ Double and triple plates — exceptional format
✦ Period laid paper, original intaglio engraving
✦ 245 years of medical history on 4 sheets

Condition: good to very good — original folds inherent to their history, illustrations complete and legible
Format: approx. 32 × 22 cm per plate
Shipping: in rigid carton, tracked insured shipment