In the 1830s, the French Dr Auzoux founded a factory for the production of anatomical models in his small home-town in Normandy. The models were made from a paper paste which allowed for the construction of robust, 'dissectible' artificial bodies, and for serial production using moulds. Distributed globally, in the nineteenth century the Auzoux models contributed to a range of public education projects, in places such as Egypt, the U.S., and India. However, the models were also part of a project of social improvement at home: the model factory provided education, exercise, and welfare support for its workers. Being instructed in anatomy and physiology, some workers went on to become medical professionals in their own right, and the Auzoux factory was held up by advocates of the French public health movement as a textbook example: a true 'model factory'.
In this paper I investigate practices of improvement at the factory, and their relationship to model makers' and model users' reflections on the public utility of anatomical models. I also show that ideas about improvement were central to the marketing strategies of the enterprise.