細節
KNOX, Robert (1791-1862). A Manual of Artistic Anatomy for the use of Sculptors, Painters, and Amateurs. London: Henry Renshaw, 1852.
8o (182 x 122 mm). Engravings in text. Original cloth (some minor staining to spine, some light wear at joints and extremities). Provenance: D. Bristow (signature on front free endpaper).
FIRST EDITION. Knox, one of the best teachers of anatomy in Edinburgh, was unable to obtain a sufficient supply of cadavers by legal means. Like many anatomists, he had to resort to resurrectionists to supplement the relatively small legal supply of bodies of executed criminals. As gruesome as the grave-robbing business was, it was not aggressively prosecuted by the authorities. However, Knox crossed over the boundary of tolerable behavior when he became, knowingly or not, the primary customer of the murderers, Burke and Hare. Though he was not personally prosecuted, Knox found his reputation and his teaching career destroyed after their conviction in 1829. For the rest of his life Knox supported himself through medical journalism, lectures, and various publications, including Great Artists and Great Anatomists (1852) and A Manual of Artistic Anatomy (1852). He also published works on anthropology and fishing. It was said that the books on fishing had the most commercial success. The poet Dylan Thomas wrote a screenplay about Knox and the trade in dead bodies. This was adapted and produced as the film, The Doctor and the Devils, in 1985. Garrison-Morton 415.
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FIRST EDITION. Knox, one of the best teachers of anatomy in Edinburgh, was unable to obtain a sufficient supply of cadavers by legal means. Like many anatomists, he had to resort to resurrectionists to supplement the relatively small legal supply of bodies of executed criminals. As gruesome as the grave-robbing business was, it was not aggressively prosecuted by the authorities. However, Knox crossed over the boundary of tolerable behavior when he became, knowingly or not, the primary customer of the murderers, Burke and Hare. Though he was not personally prosecuted, Knox found his reputation and his teaching career destroyed after their conviction in 1829. For the rest of his life Knox supported himself through medical journalism, lectures, and various publications, including Great Artists and Great Anatomists (1852) and A Manual of Artistic Anatomy (1852). He also published works on anthropology and fishing. It was said that the books on fishing had the most commercial success. The poet Dylan Thomas wrote a screenplay about Knox and the trade in dead bodies. This was adapted and produced as the film, The Doctor and the Devils, in 1985. Garrison-Morton 415.