Emblematic Monsters: Unnatural Conceptions and Deformed Births in Early Modern Europe
Emblematic Monsters: Unnatural Conceptions and Deformed Births in Early Modern Europe (Clio Medica 77) (Clio Medica S.)
A. W. Bates,
Publisher: Editions Rodopi BV.
ISBN: 9042018623
DDC: 610
Edition: Hardcover; 2005-11-01
Summary:
In early modern Europe, monstrous births were significant events that
were seen alive by many people, and dissected, embalmed and collected
after death. Emblematic Monsters is a social history of monstrous
births as seen through popular print, scholarly books and the
proceedings of learned societies. Representations of monsters are
considered in the context of their roles as wonders and emblems, and
studies of the anatomy of monsters are discussed along with
contemporary theories of their origin. By approaching accounts of
monstrous births not only as a literary form but also as descriptions
of real-life cases, similarities between the pre-scientific recording
of wonders and the scientific case report can be explored. Most
impressively, A.W. Bates draws upon his own experience of diagnosis
of birth defects to summarise more than two hundred original
descriptions of monstrous births and compare them with modern
diagnostic categories. Emblematic Monsters is an up-to-date approach
to a classical yet under-explored subject: gruesome, compelling and
monstrous. Contents List of Illustrations Abbreviations Introduction
1 Truth Under the Veil 2 Resembling Sins: Monstrous Births as
Moralising Emblems 3 The Divine Works of God 4 A Farrago of Medical
Curiosities 5 Finding Fault with Nature: Some Causes of Monstrous
Births 6 From the Womb to the Tomb 7 Retrospective Diagnosis
Conclusion Appendix: Human Monstrous Births 15001700 Bibliography
Index
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