wood molecules, strands of dna, a diminutive skeleton, illustrated posters and other medical oddities

the rare all original late 19th or early 20th century antique american medical white's physiological "manikin" portable anatomical chart was the earliest piece from the acquisition. i've had one before, but to find another was quite remarkable. the brightly colored and highly detailed traveling folding lithographed anatomical plates were made from the drawings of frank h. hamilton, whose pen also appeared in the treatise on the "essentials of physiology and hygiene" that accompanied the manikin. the life-sized folding chart is of portable construction, adapted to the use of school-teachers and lecturers, as well as for use by families. the whole display, when folded, is contained in a convenient-sized portfolio to carry in the hand. the chart was constructed to hang against the wall, with the upper section being formed of a single sheet or card and the lower half or section being formed of any number of cards or leaves, to furnish additional charts, typically composed of enlarged microscopic sections (e.g., sections of lung, vein, valve, bone, hair, finger-end, skin, wall of stomach, cross-section of muscle, etc.), or other representations of the different organs of the body. the anatomical chart contains a series hinged overlying leaves representing various parts of the system. the portable "manikin" human anatomical chart was fabricated by the james t. white & co., new york city, ny.