The Morbid Anatomy Anthology

by Joanna Ebenstein (Editor), Colin Dickey (Editor)

Description

Since 2008, the Morbid Anatomy Library of Brooklyn, New York, has hosted some of the best scholars, artists and writers working along the intersections of the history of anatomy and medicine, death and the macabre, religion and spectacle. The Morbid Anatomy Anthology collects some of the best of this work in 28 lavishly illustrated essays. Included are essays by Evan Michelson (star of Science Channel's hit show Oddities) on the catacombs of Palermo; Simon Chaplin (head of the Wellcome show more Library in London) on public displays of corpses in Georgian England; mortician Caitlin Doughty on demonic children; and Paul Koudounaris (author of Empire of Death) on a truck stop populated with human skulls. In addition are pieces on books bound in human skin, death-themed cafes in fin-de-si cle Paris, post-mortem photography, eroticized anatomical wax models, taxidermied humans and other animals, Santa Muerte, "artist of death" Frederik Ruysch, and much more. show less

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JBD1 2,919 reviews

The product of an interesting Kickstarter campaign, this volume includes short essays and excellent illustrations about, well, morbid anatomy: everything from the Palermo catacombs to anthropomorphic taxidermy to books bound in human skin to post-mortem daguerrotypes are covered. The essays are mostly very good, and well not perhaps for the faintest of stomachs, overall the book is a fascinating and judicious collection of very interesting pieces.

Jun 1, 2014

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basilisksam 64 reviews

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Author Information

Joanna Ebenstein

Editor

9 Works 581 Members

Colin Dickey

Editor

6+ Works 1,593 Members

Colin Dickey is the co-editor (with Nicole Antebi and Robby Herbst) of Failure! Experiments in Aesthetic and Social Practices. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Lapham's Quarterly, Cabinet, TriQuarterly, and The Santa Monica Review. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, he now lives in Los Angeles.