| Edition |
First American edition. |
| Description |
346 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm |
| Note |
First published by Profile Books in partnership with Wellcome Collection in the UK in 2018 under the title MEDIEVAL BODIES: Life, Death and Art in the Middle Ages. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-324) and index. |
| Contents |
Medieval bodies -- Head -- Senses -- Skin -- Bone -- Heart -- Blood -- Hands -- Stomach -- Genitals -- Feet -- Future bodies. |
| Summary |
"With wit, wisdom, and a sharp scalpel, Jack Hartnell dissects the medieval body and offers a remedy to our preconceptions. Medieval beliefs about the body were drastically different from ours today: Hair was thought to be a condensation of fumes emitted from the pores, ideas were supposedly committed to memory by being directly imprinted on the brain, and the womb of a goat was believed to function as a contraceptive. But while this medieval medicine now seems archaic, it also made a critical contribution to modern science. Medieval Bodies guides us on a head-to-heel journey through this era's revolutionary advancements and disturbing convictions. We learn about the surgeons who dissected a living man's stomach, then sewed him up again; about the geographers who delineated racial groups by skin color; and about the practice of fasting to gain spiritual renown. Encompassing medicine and mysticism, politics and art-and complete with vivid, full-color illustrations-Medieval Bodies shows us how it felt to live and die a thousand years ago"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Subject |
Civilization, Medieval.
|
|
Medicine, Medieval.
|
|
Human body -- Social aspects -- History.
|
|
ART / History / Medieval.
|
|
HISTORY / Europe / Medieval.
|
|
MEDICAL / History.
|
|
Civilization, Medieval. (OCoLC)fst00863049
|
|
Human body -- Social aspects.
(OCoLC)fst01730101
|
|
Medicine, Medieval. (OCoLC)fst01015277
|
| Genre/Form |
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
|
| Cover Title |
Medieval bodies : life and death in the Middle Ages |
| ISBN |
9781324002161 (hardcover) |
|
1324002166 (hardcover) |
|
9781324002178 (electronic publication) |
|
