The first book on the Mütter Museum contain artful images of the museum's fascinating exhibits shot by contemporary fine art photographers. Here, the focus is on the museum’s archive of rare historic photographs, most of which have never been seen by the public. Featured are poignant, aesthetically accomplished works ranging from Civil War photographs showing injury and recovery, to the ravages of diseases not yet conquered in the 19th century, to pathological anomalies, to psychological disorders. Many were taken by talented photographers between the 1860s and the 1940s as records for physicians to share among colleagues and to track patients’ conditions, and demonstrate various techniques used in medical photography including the daguerreotype, micrography, X ray, and traditional portrait-style photography. As visual documents of what humans endured in the face of limited medical knowledge, these extraordinary and haunting photographs demonstrate how far medicine has advanced.
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Blast Books; 1 edition (November 28, 2007)
Language: English
Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 1 x 11 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
Reviews
"This was a gift for a daughter who has a unique library of medical anomalies; a fine addition. We have visited the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia."
- Joan Thompson
"This was a gift for a close friend and he absolutely loves this book. It has nice thick pages with excellent photographs that are authentic for its time period."
- Brittney Brown
"I visited the museum during 2012 and I wanted to have a memory of the collection. It's a great book, hard cover, pages of an excelent quality, and the pictures. I recommend to read the forewords, since they explain the reason for the collection, trying to understand the complexity of biology."
- Serge G.
"The famous Philadelphia museum has curated an amazing collection of poignant photographs of people living with almost unbelievable abnormalities, yet are brave enough to pose for documentation. This book takes what are difficult images for some and treats them with the utmost respect, as should the reader. Brilliant book, hardcover version, informative, tragic, educational, emotional. Highly recommended."
- Melanie Luke
"A criticism regarded the small presentation of photography but I sense it would have qualified the image of the medical problem. An interesting book to view and read. This along with "Mu(t)an(t)s" by Armand Marie Leroi makes a great duo. However, it is not for the coffee table as most people may find it disturbing."
Suzanne Jacobs
"I was interested in the photos but not enough human information was written about the exhibits so they seemed cold and medical. I was happy to give the book to a friend who liked it. I wouldnt have wanted to read it twice since the entire effect was sort of depressing thinking about the many short lives seen here."
- Pamakarma
"I'm the sort of person who deliberately seeks out medical museums while traveling. I haven't been able to make it out to really see the Mütter Museum, so this is the next best thing for now. The photography is wonderful, and some times photographs of things can bring out aspects of objects in a unique way as it is."
- Eve
"Great book. It's very hefty nice cover and great info inside."
- Amanda S.
"I lived a couple blocks from this museum while I was in grad school and I kick myself now for never going to see it. This book is awesome. I wish there was a little more description of each photo, but then again I am a nerd :). The photos are amazing and as a medical practitioner, I think the procedures they did on some of these people 100, 130 years ago, were pretty groundbreaking. Definitely a great buy for anyone interested in oddities"
- Shaunawonka
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