Kempner improved artificial leg

History

A device of this name was sold by the surgical instrument suppliers Arnold & Sons in the 1870s. Versions of the device for above- and below-the-knee amputees ranged in price from 10 pounds and 10 shillings to 21 pounds. These were substantial sums at the time. The description of the device on the card comes directly from the real advertisement that appeared in Arnold & Sons’ 1879 catalogue. For more on sophisticated prosthetics such as the Kempner leg, see chapter 4 of Ryan Sweet’s free 2022 book Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture.