Anatomical illustrations from Edo-period Japan, 1603-1868

All of the images you see above are drawn from a simply marvelous collection of anatomical illustrations tracing the evolution of medical knowledge in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868) as found on the Pink Tentacle website.

To see the complete set of images (well worth it, I promise!) and read more about them, check out the original piece by clicking here.

Brief captions, top to bottom:

1. Pregnancy illustrations, circa 1860
2. Anatomical illustrations (artist/date unknown)
3. Kaishihen (Dissection Notes), 1772
4. Breast cancer treatment, 1809
5. Zoku Yōka Hiroku (Sequel to Confidential Notes on the Treatment of Skin Growths), 1859
6. Zoku Yōka Hiroku (Sequel to Confidential Notes on the Treatment of Skin Growths), 1859
7. Zoku Yōka Hiroku (Sequel to Confidential Notes on the Treatment of Skin Growths), 1859
8. Female dissection, 1774
9. Female dissection, 1774
10. Illustration from 1759 edition of Zōzu
11. Kaishihen (Dissection Notes), 1772
12. Seyakuin Kainan Taizōzu (circa 1798)
    

"Le Livre de Sante," Joseph Handler, 1967 (Volume 6)

All images from Joseph Handler's Le Livre de Sante (Monte Carlo: Andre Sauret, 1967)
volume 6: "La bouche et les dents. Le systeme digestif. Les reins" and found on the wonderful blog Journey Around my Skull. You can visit the full post--with additional images--by clicking here.

Images top to bottom:

1. Dents temporaires et germes des dents permanentes, illus. Pasqualini
2. Les levres, illus. Aslan
3. Constitution du rein, illus. W. Hess

A Pathological Fantasy from "Pohádky Pro Dospělé" or "Fairy Tales For Adults," By Jean Qui Rit and Illustrated by Artuš Scheiner, 1925

The pathological fantasy seen above featured in the fascinating looking book Pohádky Pro Dospělé or Fairy Tales For Adults, written by Jean Qui Rit and illustrated by Artuš Scheiner and published in 1925.

This image is sourced from josefskrhola's Flickr Stream and can be found in his wonderful (and highly recommended) "Fairy Tales & Adventure Stories" Flickr set, which includes, among other things, many more images from this same book. Click here to view the full set; click on image to see much larger more wonderful version.

Found via hypnerotomachi(n)a.

"Lewd and Scandalous Books," Monash University Library, Melbourne, Through September 30th

Above are some wonderful anatomical images from the exhibition "Lewd and Scandalous Books," on view at Monash University library in Melbourne, Australia until September 30th. I especially love the top image, which brings to mind the Anatomical Venus trope.

You can visit the virtual exhibition--from which these images are drawn--by clicking here.

Images top to bottom:

1. Beach, W. (Wooster), 1794-1868. An improved system of midwifery, adapted to the reformed practice of medicine: illustrated by numerous plates … / / by W. Beach (Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co., 1859).
2. Mauriceau, François, 1637–1709. Traité des maladies des femmes grosses … / Par François Mauriceau. 6th ed. (Paris: Par la Compagnie des Libraires, 1721–28)
3. Crooke, Helkiah, 1576–1635. Mikrokosmographia: A description of the body of man … / By Helkiah Crooke … 2nd ed. (London: Printed for Thomas and Richard Cotes, and are to be sold by Michael Sparke, 1631).

Found via Book Tryst.

Re-Amputation at the Hip Joint, Illustration by Baumgras, 1880s

Private Eben Smith, Co. A, 11th Maine Volunteers. Wounded at Deep Bottom, Virginia by a conoidal ball, August 16, 1864. Primary amputation by Acting Assistant Surgeon J.C. Morton on September 14, 1864. Amputation at the hip was performed by Acting Assistant Surgeon John H. Packard on January 19, 1865. Illustration by Baumgras.

This is one of a set of illustrations (our collection of Civil War Medical Illustrations) done during the Civil War by Army Medical Museum staff.

Selected by Kathleen

Via Otis Archives, the epic Flickr collection of the National Museum of Health and Medicine, as reblogged by Turn of the Century blog. Click on the image to view larger, lovelier image.

Original Fritz Kahn Posters and Key Booklet, Sotheby's Vintage Posters Auction, May 13

Morbid Anatomy reader Gotthold is a long time collector of Fritz Kahn books and posters. He is currently selling two of his original posters (as pictured above) along with a "key booklet" as part of Sotheby's May 13 Vintage Posters Auction.

I asked Gotthold to tell me and the Morbid Anatomy readership a bit about this special collection he is actioning off in the hopes of helping it find a proper and loving home; here is his response:

Dear Morbid Anatomy readers:

I have been a keen reader of this blog since I discovered it about a year ago when searching for information on anatomical posters I bought for use in an art project.

My personal artistic fascination with death, pornography, science and religion has taken me on a strange and fascinating journey over the past year through the cavernous bookshop cellars of Vienna, the seedy sex shops of London’s Soho, and the wonderful Morbid Anatomy blog in search of new materials and ideas. In my search for materials to use for my work, I spend a seemingly senseless amount of time and money looking for rare, obscure, and interesting materials to use and take inspiration from. It was on one of these escapades when visiting Vienna that I first stumbled upon the wonderful works of Fritz Kahn whose unique mechanical anatomy illustrations have earned much attention on this very blog (recent posts here, here, and here).

Since this initial discovery, I have managed to amass an extensive collection of Fritz Kahn's books, all featuring his wonderful illustrations, and have also had the luck to acquire a few original posters, including the famed ‘Der Mensch als Industriepalast’ or 'Man as Industrial Palace' of 1926 as seen above, top; you can found out more about that piece here.

Conducting more commercially oriented research around these works, I stumbled upon Morbid Anatomy for the first time to read a post on a Christies ‘Anatomy as Art’ auction in New York where this poster sold for some $3,500. The financially conscious side of myself forced me to reluctantly get in touch with Christies in London regarding a sale. I was informed by their experts there was no specialist auction coming up anytime soon but that I could still consign the poster to a ‘Vintage Posters’ auction in May. I chose to sell the two posters and a ‘key’ booklet together as a lot; I still believe this is extremely unique, given that the key booklet acts as an index to the numerical and alphabetical indicators on the poster without which it is difficult to fully comprehend the intended meaning of the illustrations.

The marketing around this auction has been weak, and there isn’t much explanation of the uniqueness of the key booklet or even an image of the second poster in the lot (as seen above, bottom). When I looked at the other posters for sale at this the auction I realized that my item is out of place and I doubt that it will strike the right chord with the bidders.

I have still however decided to proceed with the auction, not in the least because I need the proceeds of this sale to help further my artistic pursuits. I therefore implore anyone who knows relevant collectors to spread the word about the auction, and encourage anyone who’s interested to bid on these items as they are impeccable (the nice thing about Christies auctions is that anyone can place bids from anywhere in the world online). You can see the lot on the auction website by clicking here.

So please, any and all of you medical art aficionados out there, check out (and bid on!) Gotthold's Sotheby's lot on May 13th; you can find out more about the lot by clicking here and more about the auction by clicking here. And yes, online/remote bidding is very much a possibility! Also, please feel free to forward this post to any interested parties!

If you are interested in learning more about Fritz Kahn and seeing more of his incredible work, I highly recommend the beautiful, lavishly illustrated book Fritz Kahn: Man Machine / Maschine Mensch, which comes complete with a frame-worthy poster-sized reproduction of ‘Der Mensch als Industriepalast’ ('Man as Industrial Palace'). Good stuff!

"An Atlas of Topographical Anatomy after Plane Sections of Frozen Bodies," Christian Wilhelm Braune, 1877

Christian Wilhelm Braune (July 17, 1831 Leipzig – April 29, 1892) was a German anatomist and professor of topographical anatomy at the University of Leipzig. He is known for his excellent lithographs regarding cross-sections of the human body, and his pioneer work in biomechanics. Braune was son-in-law to German physician Ernst Heinrich Weber (1795–1878).

Braune was inspired by the photographic work of French scientist Étienne-Jules Marey (1830–1904) regarding anatomical movement. Marey believed that movement was the most important of all human functions, which he described graphically for biological research in Du Mouvement Dans Les Functiorls Da La Vie (1892) and Le Mouvement (1894). This led the way for Braune's experimental, anatomical studies of the human gait, being published in the book Der Gang des Menschen. This study of the biomechanics of gait covered two transits of free walking and one transit of walking with a load. The methodology of gait analysis used by Braune is essentially the same used today.

Braune and his student, Otto Fischer (1861–1917) did research involving the position of the center of gravity in the human body and its various segments. By first determining the planes of the centers of gravity of the longitudinal, sagittal and frontal axes of a frozen human cadaver in a given position, and then dissecting the cadaver with a saw, they were able to establish the center of gravity of the body and its component parts. Braune and Fischer also did extensive work regarding the fundamentals of resistive forces that the muscles need to overcome during movement.

In unrelated investigative work, Braune had a decisive role in the publication of the musical pieces composed by Frederick the Great of Prussia.

Text via Wikipedia; image via Ars Anatomica.

Scienza Per Tutti (Science for All), Aldo Mazza, 1909

Scienza Per Tutti (Science for all), 1909, Cover, by graphic designer Aldo Mazza (1880-1964).

From Arte Liberty in Italia, via Elettrogenica.

"Obstetric Tables: Comprising Graphic Illustrations, with Descriptions and Practical Remarks..." George Spratt, 1833

In 1538, Vesalius created Tabulae Sex, attaching a second printed image on top of the first that could be lifted to show the inside and outside of the human body. Euclid’s Elements of Geometry in 1570 incorporated flaps to help the reader envision three dimensional objects (Ex Oversize 2654.331.570q). By the early nineteenth century, the British printmaker George Spratt (ca. 1784-1840) used the same overlay technique for an anatomy atlas entitled Obstetric Tables. Spratt’s volume, first published in London in 1833, includes fifty hand-colored, tipped on flaps, sometimes layered four or five to the same image...

Find out more on Princeton University's Graphic Arts blog--from which all text and images are drawn--by clicking here.

Pictured above: George Spratt, Obstetric Tables: Comprising Graphic Illustrations, with Descriptions and Practical Remarks: Exhibiting on Dissected Plates Many Important Subjects in Midwifery (Philadelphia: James A. Bill, 1850). Lithographs. Gift of Joseph V. Meigs, Class of 1915. Graphic Arts GAX 2010. In process

"An Iconography of Contagion," Web Exhibition, National Library of Medicine

About a hundred years ago, public health took a visual turn. In an era of devastating epidemic and endemic infectious disease, health professionals began to organize coordinated campaigns that sought to mobilize public action through eye-catching wall posters, illustrated pamphlets, motion pictures, and glass slide projections...

Check out the National Library of Medicine's wonderful new web exhibition "An Iconography of Contagion"--which explores the relationship between posters and public health, and from which all of the above text and images were drawn--by clicking here. Curated by Friend-of-Morbid-Anatomy Michael Sappol, this is a characteristically smart, thoughtful, and visually rich exhibition.

You can see the entire exhibition, and read the full text and full image captions, by clicking here. You can see many more wonderful images in the gallery section by clicking here. Click on images above to see much larger, richer versions.

Image Credits:

1. She may be…a bag of TROUBLE. Syphilis – Gonorrhea., U.S. Public Health Service, United States, 1940s. Photomechanical print: color; 41 x 51 cm. Artist: “Christian.”
2. Ali si zdrav? (Are you healthy?), Golnik, Slovenia, Yugoslavia, 1950s. Photomechanical print: color; 42 x 60 cm.
3. Tuberkulose undersøgelse – en borgerpligt (Tuberculosis examination – a citizen’s duty.), Copenhagen, Denmark, 1947. Color lithograph; 62 x 85 cm. Designer/artist: : Henry Thelander (fl. 1902-1986). Lithographers: Andreasen & Lachmann.
4. Tuberculosis bacilli. Chinese Anti-Tuberculosis Association, Shanghai, 1953.
5. La course a la mort. (The race with death.) Ligue Nationale Française contre le Peril Vénérién, France, ca. 1926. Color lithograph; reproduction of a pastel drawing; 69 x 88 cm. Artist: Charles Emmanuel Jodelet (1883-1969).

University of Pennsylvania, Practical Anatomy Course Certificate, 1869

Click on image to see much larger version. Via American Civil War Medical & Surgical Antiques.

"L'anatomie du corps humain: Avec ses maladies, & les remedes pour les guerir," Saint-Hilaire, 1684

You can browse the whole book by clicking here.

Conjoined Twins, William Macewen, Date Unknown

From the fantastic Anatomy Acts exhibition, Object Guide No.151. Caption reads: "Conjoined Twins, date unknown, William Macewen, Courtesy of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, LGR.

You can visit the entire online exhibition by clicking here; you can order the exhibition catalog by clicking here, or come by the Morbid Anatomy Library to spend some time with our own well-worn resident copy. Click in image to see in more detail.

Image via Rapeblossom.

Harvey Cushing (1869-1939)

More here. Via Elettrogenica.

Luo Ping, The Birth of "Ghost Painting," and Vesalian Anatomy in China; A Guest Post by Michael Sappol

The following is a guest post from Michael Sappol--curator of Dream Anatomy and author of A Traffic of Dead Bodies--dialed in from his luxurious pre-holiday vacation on the Riviera Maya en Estado Mexicano de Quintana Roo:

In a recent issue of the New York Review of Books (“Specters of a Chinese Master,” 12-3-2009: 16-18;), Jonathan Spence, the brilliant historian of China, reviews an exhibition of Luo Ping paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (on only until January 10, 2010). The review pleasurably narrates the life and career of Luo Ping (1733-1799), a fascinating story, and discusses his “ghost” paintings (and the genre of ghost painting, which he invented), especially his great scroll painting, Ghost Amusement (1797). A detail of Ghost Amuseument, reproduced in the article, shows an anatomically correct skeleton with a spear, a death figure which is also evidence of the diffusion of Vesalian anatomy into China.

Spence writes: “Scholars have shown recently that the sense of the strange here was artfully drawn by Luo Ping from a new kind of source, the illustrations made by Vesalius for his volume of anatomical studies, the De Humani Corporis Fabrica of 1543, and republished in an anatomical book by Gaspard Bauhin at Frankfurt in 1605. This is thought to have been taken to Macao by a Swiss Jesuit in 1621, and published in a Chinese edition in 1630, some version of which was borrowed by Luo for his purposes.”

For those who can’t make the trip to MMA, there is also a printed catalogue of the exhibition, Eccentric Visions: The Worlds of Luo Ping (1733–1799) (Zurich: Museum Rietberg), edited by Kim Karlsson, Alfreda Murck, and Michele Matteini, $62.00. Scholars have not yet intensively studied the diffusion of the post-Vesalian anatomical body into China, India, Africa, the Islamic world, and the Americas, how it was assimilated, resisted, and revised for indigenous purposes. But as the above example suggests, there are rich lodes of evidence to mine.

Thanks, Mike, for taking time out of your tropical luxuriating to draw this wonderful historical confluence to our attention!

You can find out more about the exhibition, "Eccentric Visions: The Worlds of Luo Ping (1733–1799)", which is up through January 10th at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, by clicking here. To see the New York Review of Books article Sappol alludes to, click here. To find out more about Michael Sappol, you can check out his incredible exhibition catalog for "Dream Anatomy" by clicking here, and find out more about his book A Traffic of Dead Bodies by clicking here.

Top image is by Luo Ping, a detail of his "Ghost Amusement" ca. 1766 (more details here); bottom two images show plates from Andreas Vesalius' 1543 De Humani Corporis Fabrica, sporting nearly identical poses to those in Luo Ping's "Ghost Amusement;" More on that work by clicking here.

Wege Zu Kraft und Schönheit (The Way of Strength and Beauty), Film Stills, 1925

Above are some fantastic film stills from a German film called Wege Zu Kraft und Schönheit - Ein Film über moderne Körperkultur (The Way to Strength and Beauty), a film on modern body culture by Nicholas Kaufmann and Wilhelm Prager from 1925.

Found on the wonderful Elettrogenica blog, which captioned the images as follows: top 2: "beware the corset!" and bottom 2: "about breathing." Click here to see original post.

1917 Anatomical Pig Interactive Fold-Out!

I just happened upon an ingenious, manipulatable Flash animation of an anatomical fold-out pig, sourced from the frontispiece of the 1917 publication Bacon and Hams by George J. Nicholls. Click here to experience the pig in its many states--muscular, skeletal, circulatory--and click on the numbers to learn some pig anatomy. There are also some hidden fetuses if you have the patience to click around enough. God bless the internet!

Found via the French Culinary Institutes's "Cooking Issues Blog," which also features a few more memorable images; click here to see them all, and find out more about the overlooked classic Bacon and Hams.