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Vintage large-scale wall chart of the anatomy of the "Lumbricus sp." (Vermes II, Chaetopoda). Lithograph on two sheets of paper, mounted on canvas. Bright colors, some creasing, slight discoloration, cracks at center top, protective tape at the edges, but overall very good vintage condition considering its age and use. Author and illustrator was Prof. Dr. Paul Pfurtscheller. Pfurtscheller (1855-1927) produced a series of 39 "Zoologische Wandtafeln" (zoological wall plates) to be used for higher educational purposes. Although he was a modest high school teacher by training he gained recognition by the scientific community worldwide for this work. The earthworm is "Plate 33" in the series. The Pfurtscheller wall charts were first published in Vienna, Austria, in 1902, by 'A. Pichler's Witwe & Sohn'. This item was published by Dutch company 'Martinus Nijhoff' presumably circa 1929. Later editions were also published by Dutch company 'Martinus Nijhoff' until 1953. This is one of the very early lithographed editions, whereas later editions used offset-printing. Lithography of course is an enormously demanding technique - especially at this large-scale - which required up to 20 manual print-cycles for a single piece, since each color had to be applied seperately. These colors of course were not supposed to overlap in the end. This process is what gives lithographs their depth and unusual longevity to their colors.

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