Anatomy of the Brain

John Lizars (1792-1860) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist and professor at the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. He is best known for his series of folio volumes of 101 plates entitled: “A System of Anatomical Plates; Accompanied with Descriptions, and Physiological, Pathological, and Surgical Observations” which were published between 1822 and 1826. His father Daniel Lizars was the publisher, and his brother William prepared the engravings using a new method of engraving on copper in relief. Many of the plates were hand-colored, but the plates for the brain were printed in sepia color. The work met with great acclaim, and was widely reproduced for many years including this work published in Cincinnati in 1853. Landon C. Rives (1825-1862) was an American physician from Ohio and served as a surgeon during the Civil War, related that among the reasons for publishing the 15 plates of the brain in a single work were the economy and convenience of them being contained in a single volume.