Product Details
Death, Dissection and the Destitute: The Politics of the Corpse in Pre-Victorian Britain

Death, Dissection and the Destitute: The Politics of the Corpse in Pre-Victorian Britain
By Ruth Richardson

Price:

This item is not available for purchase from this store.
Click here to go to Amazon to see other purchasing options.


17 new or used available from $13.12

Average customer review:

Product Description

Before 1832 dissection was a feared and hated punishment for murder. The 1832 Anatomy Act requisitioned instead the corpses of the poor, transferring the penalty from murder to poverty. The Anatomy Act contributed to the terrible fear of the Victorian workhouse and influences attitudes towards death even today. This is an unputdownable analysis which draws on many disciplines to explore the fundamental issues of folklore and science, life and death and the political struggles surrounding ownership of the body in the 19th century. 'This is a heartfelt dilemma whose history is movingly explored...Passionate, powerful and elegant.' - Roy Porter, "Guardian".

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #1430416 in Books
  • Published on: 2001-08-16
  • Original language: English
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 480 pages

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Until 1832 dissection-much hated and much feared-was restricted to the corpses of hanged murderers. Bodysnatching was rife. The 1832 Anatomy Act, however, appropriated instead the corpses of the poor, effectively rendering dissection a punishment for poverty. Death, Dissection and the Destitute reveals why fear of the pauper funeral so afflicted the nineteenth-century poor. Ruth Richardson's book opens rich prospects in history and the history of science. Her new afterword draws important parallels between historical and current concerns about the body, organs for transplant, and human tissue for research.

About the Author
Dr Ruth Richardson was born and grew up in Notting Hill, London. She was educated at Holland Park School, the City Literary Institute, and the University of Sussex. After leaving school she worked as a librarian in various specialist libraries and studied art and literature at evening classes. As a mature student at university she came upon the Anatomy Act while studying Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. This book is the result of a decade of further research. Ruth Richardson now works for the Institute of Historical Research, London.

Customer Reviews

A must buy5
This has been one of the best books I have read in grad school. Basically, it deals with the creation of the British Anatomy Act and with the criminalization of poverty. However, it's also got great info about grave robbing, murder for body-procurement, burial practices, and corpse decomposition - and it's extremely readable. Richardson explains that she began this book while reading Shelley's Frankenstein and with questions she had about the meanings of dissection and the body. This book is not about Frankenstein, but it's a must-read if you are to truly understand the society that Frankenstein was created for. It's also a must-read if you are at all interested in anatomy, poverty, or social policy dealing with anatomy and poverty.

100005
I'd like say that this book is ver intrested for me, because I write my book about tha modern anatomy, medicine and politics.