Toussaint Barthelemy & Paul Oudin (XIX-XX)

EXTREMELY EARLY ALBUM OF X-RAY PHOTOGRAPHS, c.1896, containing silver gelatin prints (15), extraordinary x-ray photographs, featuring multiple views of the bones of hands (a few with broken joints) and other skeletal regions of the human body, plus unusual pictures of a purse and the sole of a shoe (in which all the nails are shown), and a rat by the French pioneers Toussaint Barthelemy (1850-1906) and Paul Oudin (1851-1923). Printing-out paper prints, each approximately 5x7 inches or slightly smaller. Oblong 8vo, burgundy leatherette, rubbed. 1896-7

These are among the first examples of x-ray photography, and include inspired and scientific views. In January 1896 Roentgen had announced his discovery of x-rays by a mailing of preprints and photographs. Interestingly, Barthelemy and Oudin, two physicians, submitted an x-ray photograph of the bones of a hand to the French Academy of Sciences on January 20 of that same year.