Mutter Museum Historic Medical Photographs [Hardcover]

College of Physicians of Philadelphia (Author), Laura Lindgren (Editor), Gretchen Worden (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0922233284 | ISBN-13: 978-0922233281 | Edition: 1

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.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Blast Books; 1 edition (November 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0922233284
• ISBN-13: 978-0922233281
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 0.9 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Quality, Fast Delivery! December 29, 2007

By T. Shifflett

Format:Hardcover

This is an amazing book. Anyone interested in oddities, this will settle your craving. Lots of pictures and stories and well worth the money. There is so little time to spend at the Philadelphia museum and this book includes everything that is there plus more.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Morbid and Beautiful November 25, 2007

By Melissa S. Mutlu

Format:Hardcover

The Mutter Museum took me into a most surreal world of photography. What some might consider disgusting, disturbing, and grotesque, The Mutter Museum turns into a form most beautiful without exploiting those being photographed.

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Enough Solid Scientific Information April 25, 2008

By directions

Format:Hardcover

The truth is this books is in between two worlds, that of the scientific and that of the freakshow. I could say I'd prefer the former being a person with a disability myself (some of the photos here of people with "afflictions" like cerebral palsy would today lead normal lives) but also like any human being can understand your Malady of the Month curiousity about the whole thing and for that I'd reccomend the book "Death Scenes" (if you can stomach it and frankly the intro to that book has far more informative analysis of the photos than anything in this book). But the Mutter Museum although a sort of "odditorium" is also a scientific museum to inform people so I want facts. Obviously, the photos taken at the time and their captions don't depict current scientific knowledge. Many say "unknown disease" although a current scientist or medical provider could make a good guesstimate from the photo alone. What was the treatment at the time? What would the people have gone through? What would happen now? One photo particulary striking (among many though I'll choose one) says "meningitis, injected with serum, discharged 5 days later". The photo (striking to me because I have a neurological disability as well and after recovery from this disease people have long term after effects and disabilities that are neurological) unconsciously reminisant of the famous Victorian era photo "Fading Away" shows a girl in what appears to be a coma from that disease and one would assume she died after. But when it says she was "discharged five days later" she recovered, at least enough to be released. What happenend? A good "update" might read "the antitoxin available at the time would stop the progress of the disease and enable people to live though not nearly as effective as antibiotics did save some lives. But with the long term after effects of the disease people would often develop mental retardation or mental illness and in those times eventually end up in institutions which would not occur today". But that infomation (scientifically correct) is missing. The museum promises to be "shockingly informative". Good enough. Shock value I'll grant you but its a little lacking in the "informative" department.