These two engraved, flap anatomical broadsides echo the popular theme, “Adam and Eve,” as exemplified by Albrecht Dürer’s famous 1504 engraving. The sheets include dozens of superimposed organ flaps so the user can virtually dissect the male and female bodies. Adam’s shows the workings of the heart, while Eve’s shows the functioning of lungs. For each engraving, cloth-like flaps cover a new series of flaps depicting individual internal organs. While these anatomical prints were engraved by the Augsburg artist Lucas Kilian, they had been conceived, along with the text, by the physician Johann Remmelin, apparently for his own use. However, the prints were published in single sheets in 1613, and the text without the illustrations in the following year, both without the consent of Remmelin. The first authorized edition was published in Latin in 1619 under the title, Catoptrum microcosmicum (Mirror of the Microcosm). Johann Remmelin.
Johann Remmelin and Lucas Kilian
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Kleiner Welt Spiegel, das 1st: Abbildung göttlicher Schöpffung an dess Menschen Leib, mit beygesetzter schrifftlicher Erklärung Augsburg: Johann Ulrich Schönig, 1632 The Le Roy Crummer Collection