Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Sat, Sep 19, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-09-19 11:00:00 2026-09-19 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/september-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-24380
Our September 2026 auction is anchored by two remarkable private collections, together making up about half the sale, alongside a broader selection of consignments spanning early photography, Civil War material, and vernacular imagery. The Soffer Collection, built with an eye for rarity and historical significance, is particularly strong in vernacular portraiture, Native American photographs, and Iowa Civil War imagery. The Palmer, Massachusetts collection, much of it found at Brimfield, centers on maker-marked daguerreotypes from the golden age of the American daguerreian studio.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 639

Postcards, Press Prints, and Ephemera, Medical Body Science Collection

Estimate: $200 - $300
Starting Bid
$100

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
A collector's binder brings together a wide-ranging archive of medical science imagery assembled across multiple formats and decades, anchored by a recurring focus on the anatomical exhibits of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. Postcards, press prints, real-photo cards, and related ephemera are organized in plastic-pocket pages throughout, with subjects spanning the Transparent Man, the Transparent Woman, the walk-through giant human heart, circulation and nervous system diagrams, laboratory scenes, and anatomical models from multiple institutions. Several cards bear postmarks and handwritten correspondence on their reverses, confirming active circulation as souvenirs and visitor mementos.

The visual range across the lot is substantial: black-and-white real-photo postcards of the Transparent Man with arms raised and musculature fully rendered, a diagrammatic "Circulation of Blood" card printed on a dark ground with white line illustration, a color postcard titled "Transparent Woman, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois," cards showing the giant heart's interior with visitors dwarfed beneath its walls, a Dutch-language card depicting Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek's original microscope, a Belgian Congo Congopresse press print by H. Goldstein showing a student at the School of Indigenous Medical Assistants in Léopoldville, laboratory photographs of a female technician in a white coat, a Body Worlds exhibition brochure from the Museum of Science and Industry, and a Sentinel press photograph dated April 1982. A color postcard with a teal ground shows a full-figure anatomical manikin in a horizontal pose; additional color cards depict cross-sectional muscle and organ views on vivid red and black grounds.

The Transparent Man was an internationally traveled educational exhibit, soon followed by the Transparent Woman, and one version was exhibited at Chicago's Century of Progress fair in 1933 and 1934. Henri Goldstein supervised a team of photographers for the Belgian colonial press agency Congopresse, whose images were organized under a classification system largely free of copyright and achieved worldwide circulation. The Leeuwenhoek card is printed in Dutch and identifies the instrument as an original microscope of Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723) with 270x magnification and a resolving power of 1/700 mm.

Reverse notations on multiple cards include penciled acquisition codes, postmarks, handwritten addresses, and dealer catalog numbers. The Congopresse press print reverse bears the printed designation "Au Congo Belge. Un élève de l'Ecole d'Assistants Médicaux Indigènes de Léopoldville. Photo H. Goldstein. N° 34.23.31/39. Congopresse. Reproduction libre avec ou sans mentions d'origine – Tous droits réservés pour l'édition de cartes postales, gravures, etc." (In Belgian Congo. A student of the School of Indigenous Medical Assistants of Léopoldville. Photo H. Goldstein. No. 34.23.31/39. Congopresse. Free reproduction with or without credit – All rights reserved for the edition of postcards, engravings, etc.). Additional items beyond those pictured are included in the binder.

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