A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is the one to read if you want to know more about spontaneous combustion, snakes living as parasites in the human stomach, two-headed people, tailed men, giants and dwarfs, and Julia Pastrana the Nondescript. The chapter on premature burial is particularly ghoulish and gruesome, and seems to have inspired a very good TV documentary on this subject, recently sent on the Discovery Channel. The author is obviously a medical scientist, but he has the rare talent of writing in a way that appeals to the general reader. Stylish, well written and with lots of amazing illustrations, this book is well worth its price.

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Victorian Grotesque: An illustrated excursion into medical curiosities, freaks, and abnormalities, principally of the Victorian age Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book is a compilation of medical abnormalities in the Victorian era. It illustrates conditions from the minor - an extra digit, to the extreme - parasitic conjoined twins (an example of which was born in South America recently; the separation was successful but the baby died due to complications).
Oddly, Joseph (John) Merrick - the Elephant Man, who died in 1890, is not mentioned in the book. However, the Tocci conjoined twins, born in Italy in 1877, are.
It is interesting to note that these conditions still exist today, although most are detected before birth and terminated.
This is a fascinating book, heavily illustrated with photographs and contemporary line drawings, lovingly researched by the author. I have had my copy for over 25 years and have read it over a dozen times.
If you have an interest in the medical side of these abnormalities or if you have the morbid interest of the Victorian public to these poor and, sadly, often exploited human beings or if, hopefully, your interest is one of compassion and understanding, then I urge you to read this extraordinary book.

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