Medical Museums: Past, Present, Future

This book, published at the end of May 2013, brings together a unique collaboration of curators and scholars from Europe and the United States to open up new perspectives on the past, present and future of medical museums.
Offering readers unrivalled access to international collections of preserved animal and human bodies, instruments and art, Medical Museums features many previously unpublished images and untold stories from this fascinating and disturbing world.
Medical Museums is a bold, eclectic anthology that offers readers a unique opportunity to experience this compelling heritage through clearly written, well-informed text and sumptuous images. Insightful essays informed by current debates in medical history, anthropology, museology and visual studies are complemented by astonishing images provided by both well-known and niche museums from around the world. With unparalleled coverage provided by curators, the 17 richly illustrated chapters explore collections from Aberdeen to Zurich including: Berlin (the Charité), Cleveland (the Dittrick), Copenhagen (the Medical Museion), Edinburgh (Surgeons’ Hall), Florence (La Specola), Leiden, London (the Hunterian Museum, the Science Museum, and Wellcome Collection), Philadelphia (the Mütter), Stockholm (the Karolinska Institute), Washington DC (the National Museum of Health and Medicine and the Smithsonian).