True History of the Elephant Man [Hardcover]

Michael Howell (Author), Peter Ford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 1980

This book tells the story of the life of one man who suffered from neurofibromatosis. Through horrible physical deformities which were almost impossible to describe, Joseph Merrick spent much of his life exhibited as a fairground freak until even 19th century sensibilities could take it no more. Hounded, persecuted and starving he ended up being rescued by the distinguished surgeon Frederick Treves. To Treves's surprise he discovered, during the course of their friendship, that lurking beneath the mass of Merrick's corrupting flesh lived a spirit that was as courageous as it had been tortured, and a nature as gentle and dignified as it had been deprived and tormented.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In the mid 1880s, a patient admitted to the London Hospital in Whitechapel caught the imagination of the public. He was a horribly deformed man named Joseph Merrick, who suffered from severe multiple neurofibromatosis. The disease made portions of his body grow freakishly; hence, he was called the "elephant man" in sideshows, where he was exhibited before coming to the attention of doctors. Roughly a century later, Merrick again caught the public eye when his story was brought to film and Broadway. This revised edition of the 1980 original contains a more factual account of Merrick's life, including updated information about him and his condition. The text is capped with numerous photographs of the players, including some startling prints of Merrick while alive and of his deformed skeleton after death.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"A story to strike pity and terror into any heart." -- Times Literary Supplement

Brilliantly researched . . . -- Sunday Telegraph --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Allison & Busby; First edition. edition (March 27, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0850313538
• ISBN-13: 978-0850313536
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,634,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joseph Carey Merrick - the Man, the Soul, October 11, 2002

By 

Jeanette Sitton, Joseph Carey Merrick Tribute... (London, England, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The True History of the Elephant Man (Paperback)

'Tis true my form is something odd
but blaming me is blaming God,
Could I create myself anew
I would not fail in pleasing you.

If I could reach from pole to pole
or grasp the ocean with a span,
I would be measured by the soul -
the mind's the standard of the man.

I bought this book many years ago, unfortunately I made the mistake of lending it to someone and I never got it back. This is a remarkable book. I was touched by Joseph Merrick years ago. For the past nine years, I have been running the Joseph Carey Merrick Tribute Website. It is a site dedicated to Joseph, the person - not Joseph, the disability. I'm presently heading a London and Leicester (UK) campaign to have a commemorative plaque erected in his honour. He deserves to have a permanent tribute. He has done a great deal to advance medical science, through his skeleton, and thanks to him, there will one day be a cure for Proteus Syndrome. It's time the world said 'thank you'. Please give your moral support by visiting the site. I'm not sure if web addresses can be mentioned here, so simply type the following in your web browser: Joseph Carey Merrick Tribute Website

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Undeniably human, Unquestioningly Heroic, October 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The True History of the Elephant Man: Extensively Revised with Much Fresh Information; New Edition (Paperback)

Joseph Merrick is a personal hero of mine. I picked up this book around ten years ago when I was diagnosed with what was thought to be an inoperable spinal tumour and I was told I had Neurofibromatosis, what was then thought to be the disease attributed to Joseph Merrick's. Not only was it an inspirational story that helped me in my struggle to learn to walk again but I found it (and still do) an intensly readable account of surely one of Britain's most unfortuante son's and one of popular culture's most enduring figure. The story of The Elephant Man is familiar to many from the 1980 Brooksfilms production starring Anthony Hopkins as Sir Frederick Treves and John Hurt as the enigmatic Joseph Merrick. Michael Howell and Peter Ford tell Merrick's story with a rich blend of history giving the reader an insight into late nineteenth century England and the fairground attraction that gripped the European community as well as exploring the medical insight into Neurofibromatosis the disease which, at the time of it's orignal printing, it was widely regarded Merrick did indeed have. This insight proves fascinating without alienating the reader with complicated medical jargon. Whilst Frederick Treves figures prominently, perhaps too much so as other reviewers have suggested, one can't deny that it was this passionate surgeon that was Joseph's salvation in the last years of his life providing a quality of life he surely would never had if there lives had not intertwined.

As with the 1980 film The Elephant Man Howell and Ford's book does question Treves motives for rescuing Merrick only to make him a curiosity all over again within the Victorian medical fraternity leaving the reader to ponder those motives, but when one reads the Appendix written by Treves himself shortly before his death in 1923 included in this book one can only admire the special frienship that was forged between these two men. Joseph was a hero on so many levels something that a clear theme throughout the book and it leaves little doubt in my mind why his memory is so enduring even today. There simply hasn't been a human being quite like Joseph Merrick since his death at 27 years in 1890. Howell and Ford's The True History Of The Elephant Man is a compelling account that is as relevant now as it was on it's original release in 1980. And like the film I can only describe as a luminous experience...

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soul stirring and heart warming account of a young man, May 23, 2002

By 

Tami Brandt (Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The True History of the Elephant Man (Paperback)

I inherited this book from a deceased family member. I had heard about David Lynch's movie about The Elephant Man, but I never saw it. Reading this book made me cry and empathize with Joseph Carey Merrick for his condition and the ostractize he received from the world based on his looks and not his soul.

Joseph Carey Merrick was the real Elephant Man not a fictional character. Joseph had a loving mother that died when he was a child and his father moved and remarried. His step-mother didn't like him and scorned him for his looks and his inability to find work due to his lameness, telling him that what she fed him was more than he earned. Eventually he refused to return home for meals because he didn't want to listen to step-mother barate him anymore. His father stopped looking for him, but did get him a hawker's license to hawk wares on the street. But people were afraid of him and would not buy his wares, and he acquired a gathering of curious people around him. His uncle gave him shelter for a while, but Joseph left there too. He worked in the workhouse a place of refuge and work for the poor and destitute for 3 years, but hated it and left. He ended up being exhibited as a sideshow freak under the name of "The Elephant Man" because his congenital deformity made it so that he resemble that of an elephant (or so the posters showed him to resemble). When he was at Whitechapel Road, across the street from the London Hospital Dr. Treves saw him for the first time and brought him to the hospital to examine him. Over the next few years Joseph was exhibited, his managers robbed him of his life savings and left. Joseph went back to Whitechapel Road and to the care of the only friend he knew . . . Dr. Treves. He spent his remaining years under the friendship and care of the staff at the London Hospital.

I loved this story. Michael Howell and Peter Ford told a true and compassionate account of Joseph Merrick's life. A man who was like any other human being with hopes and dreams with one setback.. His congenital deformity that prohibited his ability to be like, and experience and sleep lying down on his back like other people. Through all of years and hardships, Joseph was scared, but kind and kept a calm serenity inside himself about his condition. He had so much gratitude for the staff and his new friends who helped him, he made cardboard models and sent these things to those people who saw to his care in his appreciation for their help. The book also includes pictures how Merrick looked when he was admitted to the London Hospital, and a display of his skeleton after death.