MAN: HIS STRUCTURE AND PHYSIOLOGY POPULARLY EXAMINED AND DEMONSTRATED.
London. Published by H Bailliere. 1858. Second Edition with an appendix. 8vo. pp.Lxiii +179 with 5 moveable dissected coloured plates, +3 folding colour plates and 5 black & white wood engravings. Moveable overlays that demonstrate differing layers of organs and tissues are delicate, there is some odd discoloration. Previous owners names on the title page. Original embossed cloth hardcover boards with some fraying to the head and tail of the spine. else a very good copy. Item #196363
Robert Knox was a renowned lecturer in anatomy and an esteemed zoologist, ethnologist, surgeon, and doctor in Edinburgh.
The cadaver purchases of his anatomy school however kept William Burke and William Hare in the resurrectionist business, a trade that, when the local supply of cadavers for the developing science of anatomy did not meet demand, tended to incentivise lateral thinking in order to maintain supply. One of these methods was grave robbery. Another later led to one of the most famous and horrifying series of murders in Scottish history, a development that Dr Knox almost certainly had no knowledge of or participation in. It did, however, offer plentiful ammunition for his numerous professional enemies, who used the scandal to destroy his personal and professional credibility.
This work is interesting not only because it is a fantastically detailed, carefully constructed, illustrative, and important codex from a pivotal time in the history of medicine, produced by one of the great anatomists of the age, but also because of its grisly and fascinating legal and ethical background. The sixteen Burke and Hare murders occurred in 1828 over a period of around ten months, however their fame and notoriety seemingly caused an elevated public awareness of the necessity of the provision of cadavers for anatomical research, and later lead to the passing of the anatomy act in 1832 which relaxed the circumstances under which bodies could be used for dissection including allowances for donation of corpses for the furtherance of scientific understanding. The publication of the first edition of this book in 1857 is probably a good indication that Dr Knox's insights were considered to be of sufficient importance to risk publication, despite the rumours and slander levelled against him.
Price: $1,200.00