grapho-, graph-, -graph, -graphy, -grapher, -graphia

A reference to the process of engraving on copper or brass plates which are used for printmaking and for making illustrations in the production of books.

An engraver on copper or brass; hence, an engraver of copper plates for printing something on paper.

The act of engraving on copper or brass: Chalcography is a printing technique in which images are produced by using a printing press to hold the ink that will be imprinted on the paper.

Originally, chalcography was the technique that only referred to engravings on copper, but it gradually extended to engravings on all metals.

1. A writing which, requiring a counterpart, was written twice on the same piece of parchment, with a space between, in which was written the word chirographum, through which the parchment was cut, and one part given to each party. It answered to what is now called a charter party.
2. Applied technically to the various documents that were formally written, engrossed, or signed "by hand" rather than by other means of publication.

A charter party, as mentioned in #1, is defined as an instrument in writing, from the sovereign power of a state or country, executed in due form, bestowing rights, franchises, or privileges.

A writer by hand: A cheirographist is someone who presents penmanship that is written on "important documents" as an apostolic letter written and signed by the pope.

1. Handwriting; autograph, style or character of handwriting; especially, penmanship.
2. Of or pertaining to chirography.

A written description of turtles, terrapins, and tortoises.

1. Any mechanical engraving process depending upon chemical action; specifically a process of zinc etching without the aid of photography.
2. A process of obtaining half-tones by printing, from the same plate, in two colors, or two shades of the same color, one of which is slightly out of register.
3. In graphic arts, any of various nonphotographic chemical processes used to make etchings or engravings.

A description of the rarest and most valuable of books which are the so-called block books.

Chiroxylographic copies or editions which are usually consisting of 50 or fewer leaves and this early form of printing was very popular in the second half of the 15th century.

The chiroxylographic technique offered a cheaper alternative to the normally printed book, which at the time was still very expensive to produce.

Block books were printed using wood blocks in which the text and illustrations were both cut in relief, and the impression was taken from the solid block instead of using Gutenberg’s invention of movable metal type.

Some block books, called chiro-xylographic, from the Greek chir-, “hand” and xilo, “wood” contain only the woodcut illustrations, with the text written by hand.

The appearance of chiro-xylographic books using this technology began in the 1450’s and extended into the 1470’s when it proved ideal for the printing of small editions without incurring the labor cost of setting the type.

The content of the chiroxylographic books was for the most part consisting of religious iconography.

A manuscript which is added to a block book in which the illustrations are printed from woodcuts.

Block books, also called xylographica or chiroxylographies, are short books of up to 50 leaves, block printed in Europe in the second half of the 15th century as woodcuts with blocks carved to include both text and illustrations.

The content of the books was nearly always religious, aimed at a popular audience, and a few titles were often reprinted in several editions using new woodcuts.

Although many had believed that block books preceded Gutenberg's invention of movable type in the first part of the 1450s, it now is believed that most of the surviving block books were printed in the 1460s or later, and that the earliest surviving examples may date to about 1451.

Chiroxylographies seem to have functioned as a cheap popular alternative to the typeset book, which was still very expensive at this time.

Single-leaf woodcuts of chiroxylographies from the preceding decades often included passages of text with prayers, indulgences and other material; the block book was an extension of this form.

Block books or chiroxylographies are very rare and there are apparently some editions surviving only in fragments, and many probably not surviving at all.

A radiographic examination of the bile ducts: The cholangiographies are done because a person's liver makes bile, a chemical that helps people to digest food.

The plumbing system of ducts that runs between people's liver, gallbladder, and small intestine is how bile moves around.

Some of the bile goes to work in a person's small intestine and the rest gets stored in his or her gallbladder.

An intraoperative cholangiography is a special kind of X-ray imaging that shows those bile ducts. It's used during surgery and with a typical X-ray, the physician gets one picture; however, a cholangiography shows the doctor a live video of the patient's bile ducts so he, or she, can see what's happening in real-time.

Typically, a cholangiography is used when the patient has gallstones and he or she needs the gallbladder removed.

The doctor will make a few small cut in the person's body (called laparoscopic surgery). Then he or she will put a tiny video camera through one of the cuts to help him/her with the operation.

During this surgery, an intraoperative cholangiogram or cholangiography may help the doctor do the following:

• Check for bile-duct stones.
• Determine if stones in a person's gallbladder have moved into the bile ducts.
• The bile stones don't always cause symptoms, but they can lead to serious problems such as an infection.

Radiographic examination of the bile ducts and pancreas: Cholangiopancreatography is a technique that combines the use of endoscopy and fluoroscopy to diagnose and treat certain problems of the biliary or pancreatic ductal systems.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP, is a procedure to diagnose and treat problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas.

Cholangiopancreatography combines X-ray and the use of an endoscope or a long, flexible, lighted tube to get the medical results.

A radiographic examination of the gallbladder and the bile ducts after an injection of a contrast medium.

1. Radiography of the gallbladder, using a radiopaque dye as a contrast medium.
2. An X-ray examination of the gallbladder after the patient has swallowed a substance that shows up on an X-ray.

An ultrasonic or x-ray examination of the gallbladder at least 12 hours before the study when the patient has a fat-free meal and ingests a contrast material containing iodine, usually in the form of tablets.

The iodine, in the cholecystosonography is opaque to x-rays, and it is shown to be excreted by the liver into the bile in the gallbladder.