Jacques Joseph:
Nasal Plastic Surgery and Other Facial Reconstructive Procedures,with an Appendix on Reconstructive Breast Surgery and Some Other Proceduresin the Area
of External Plastic Surgery.

[Nasenplastik und sonstige Gesichtsplastik nebst einem Anhang über Mammaplastik]

An Orientation on the Occasion of the Reprographic Reprint

by H. Behrbohm

For the 100th anniversary of modern nasal surgery, and in the seventieth year after Jacques Joseph‘s death, Kaden Publishers in Heidelberg present a luxuriously designed reprographic reprint of Jacques Joseph‘s major work, ‘Nasal Plastic Surgery and Other Facial Reconstructive Procedures, With an Appendix on Reconstructive Breast Surgery and Some Other Procedures in the Area of External Plastic Surgery‘, a book which had long been out of print.

Jacques Joseph was one of the leading plastic reconstructive surgeons of the 19th and 20th centuries and the foremost pioneer in nasal surgery in Germany. His work takes the techniques of other great surgeons such as Dieffenbach, Sauerbruch, Thiersch, and develops them further. Joseph worked on this assignment from 1928 until 1931, after his time as head of the Department of Facial Plastic Surgery at the Charité and after many years of experience in his own practice and clinic. The book – which Joseph characterises as an ‘atlas and textbook‘ – provides a comprehensive survey of both the principles of analysis and operation planning and techniques for patients with extensive facial wounds and also for functional and aesthetic indications such as crooked, saddle, and hump nose.
On 842 pages, Joseph describes his experience in the field of corrective, reconstructive and aesthetic nasal surgery, and in facial surgery, from drooping cheeks plastic surgery to plastic surgery of forehead, jaw, lip, cheek, and lid. An 80-page appendix is devoted to reconstructive breast surgery and mammaplasty techniques.

A Prize in Many Respects

Many of the operation techniques and indications, e.g. resectional septum surgery, have been further developed or changed in the hight of new knowledge or innovations. Nevertheless, for a variety of reasons, his book ‘Nasal Plastic Surgery and Other Facial Reconstructive Procedures, With an Appendix on Reconstructive Breast Surgery and Some Other Procedures in the Area of External Plastic Surgery can still be studied with profit by every surgeon involved in surgery of the
Joseph‘s Original Raspatory
nose and face. Considering there was no laser, no technique of free transplantation of vascularized flaps, no endoscopic diagnostics of the interior of the nose, the reader can but view the attained results with all the more respect, indeed, amazement. From our present day perspective, the fact that the majority of the operations described were conducted under local anaesthesia is hard to imagine.
A Far-reaching Insight
Into Reconstructive Plastic Surgery

Joseph‘s principles of planning skin flaps, suture techniques or wound treatment ought to be part of the repertoire of every ENT and facial plastic surgeon. The book‘s good didactic structure, from the general fundamentals of anatomy, facial proportions, the causes of different deformities to prerequisites for successful plastic surgery‘, guides the reader through specific surgical problem situations and their solutions, often in apparently hopeless cases. The train of thought is clear and comprehensible, revealing the language of a great pragmatist and brilliant surgeon. The honesty in dealing with arising complications and risks is impressive.

Example of rhino-neoplastic surgery, complete plastic surgical replacement of the inner and outer nose.
The importance of the exact analysis of a deformity or defect as essential to a clear, pre-operative plan is the guiding thread throughout the book. Not only does Joseph deal with the “biological foundations of facial plastic surgery“ and their technical aspects, but also repeatedly with the psychological side. For example, in the chapter“ Grounds for rhinomiosis and the relevance of the operation to everyday living“, we read: “One who wishes to be rid of a deformity, who simply wants a ‘normal‘ appearance – wishes to be inconspicious – should not suffer the odium of vanity.“ Joseph developed many new instruments for his operations, the most well-known being the ‘Joseph‘, an elevator which is still in daily use in operating theatres throughout the world. The book also conveys an understanding of the relationship between operative goal and instrument knowledge.

A Masterpiece of Content and Design

Joseph's book is a masterpiece, not only of the author, but also the illustrators, the photographer and the publisher. The illustrations and pastels are of superb clarity and didactically brilliant, rendering the steps of each procedure and its principles thoroughly comprehensible. The balanced and harmonic design – the layout – is exemplary and reflects the aesthetic goal of the operations. The technical mastery visible in the black-and-white photographs lends them a nimbus still capable of moving the reader of today. The reprint, using a complex reprographic procedure, is quite comparable in quality to the original. The binding, with a Cabra semi-leatherback and linen covers ‚ was based as far as possible on the luxury edition of the original.

Example rhino-neoplastic surgery, complete plastic surgical replacement of the inner and outer nose.

An Impressive Example of Cultural History

This major work of Jacques Joseph is also an impressive reminder of an important, bygone era of medicine. Joseph‘s career began in Germany at the time of emperor Wilhelm II, brought him the highest recognition as a doctor and ended under the National Socialists with extreme humiliation. During the worst period of Jewish persecution, a discriminating process of special authorisation gave him ‘permission‘ to operate in individual cases. In Germany today, the importance of Jacques Joseph and his work has largely fallen into oblivion. This is primarily due to the fact that after his death, his achievements, like these of all other Jewish doctors and scientists during the Nazi era, were ignored. After the war, the first articles about Jacques Joseph came from abroad and the USA, where his wife Eleonore and daughter Bella had emigrated. It is thanks to the publisher Dr. Reinhard Kaden and the luxurious reprint of Jacques Joseph‘s work that this scientific legacy of a great physician is once again accessible to interested doctors.

Extracts from:
‘Nasal Plastic Surgery and Other Facial Reconstructive Procedures, With an Appendix on Reconstructive Breast Surgery and Some Other Procedures in the Area of External Plastic Surgery‘

Jacques Joseph: Nasenplastik und sonstige Gesichtsplastik,
nebst einem Anhang über Mammaplastik

[Nasal Plastic Surgery and Other Facial Reconstructive Procedures, With an Appendix on Reconstructive Breast Surgery and Some Other Procedures in the Area of External Plastic Surgery]

2004.
ISBN 3-922777-69-4, XXXI, 842 pages, with a four-page appendix containing a short portrait of the author. 1717 illustrations, some coloured. Semi-leather with back title gold leaf on the spine. Curt Kabitzsch Publishers, Leipzig 1931,
Limited and Numbered Reprographic Reprint of the Luxury Edition.
Jacques Joseph (1865-1934) was among the pioneers of plastic reconstructive surgery. His book ‘Nasal Plastic Surgery and Other Facial Reconstructive Procedures, With an Appendix on Reconstructive Breast Surgery and Some Other Procedures in the Area of External Plastic Surgery. An Atlas and Textbook.‘ is now in reprint from Kaden Publishers Heidelberg, using a complex reprographic procedure. This bibliophile‘ edition is quite comparable in quality to the original.

Price 295,00 € (incl. VAT)
You can order your copy here.