Dream Anatomy - Softcover

Sappol, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 016075982X ISBN 13: 9780160759826

Publisher: National Library of Medicine, 2006

Synopsis

In antiquity, the human bodyâ s internal structure was subject to speculation, fantasy, and some study, but there were few efforts to represent it in pictures. The invention of the printing press in the 15th century helped to inspire a new spectacular science of anatomy and equally spectacular visions of the body. Dream Anatomy, a lavishly illustrated new publication from the National Library of Medicine, is filled with the anatomical imagery made possible by the printing press, ranging from the detailed and informative to the beautiful, whimsical, surreal, and grotesque. This new catalogue, based on the National Library of Medicineâ s milestone Dream Anatomy exhibition, displays the anatomical imagination in some of its most astonishing incarnations, from the fourteenth century to present. This fascinating medical art book, filled with rare color illustrations, includes:

• 170 photos and illustrations
• Insightful descriptive text

• Informative description of the print technologies of anatomical illustration
• History of anatomy timeline
• Full exhibition checklist
• Exhibition credits

About this title

About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Michael Sappol is the author of A Traffic of Dead Bodies (Princeton University Press, 2002) and a curator-historian at the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, the world's largest medical library. Dr. Sappol received a Ph.D. in history, with distinction, from Columbia University in 1997. In addition to his scholarly works, he has written for the Los Angeles Times, Science magazine and has been interviewed on National Public Radio. A long-time resident of New York City, he now makes his home in Washington, DC.  

Review

TESTIMONIALS   DREAM ANATOMY  

This is either the most beautifully written art book I’ve ever come across, or the most beautifully illustrated essay. Michael Sappol’s commanding expertise and bold, inventive insights inform and illuminate in eloquent prose. Using images and words with equal mastery, Dream Anatomy brings to life the surreal tango of art and dissection.  If you buy just one book, okay, two books about cadavers, make this the other one .

Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Dream Anatomy is a beautifully articulated exploration of the interrelated histories of anatomical art, science, and technology. It reminds us that there was a time when these disciplines were dependent upon one another to reveal the complex, but hidden wonders of the interior of the human body. Today, new medical ideas and models, and new imaging technologies, are once again challenging us to re-imagine and represent our anatomical selves. [Delete last sentence?] JD Talasek, Curator of Exhibitions, National Academy of Sciences   Dream Anatomy is a dream-come-true resource for illustrating the history of medicine.  These images richly demonstrate the developing knowledge of anatomy and progression of printing techniques over five centuries. Charleen M. Moore, Anatomist, Professor, Dept. of Cellular and Structural Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio   Michael Sappol is the leading figure on the politics of anatomy in nineteenth-century America.  His superb book A Traffic of Dead Bodies is of interest to anyone studying American cultural history.  In Dream Anatomy, Sappol extends his analysis to broader histories of anatomical practice in an accessible and wondrously illustrated text. Alexander Nemerov, Professor of Art History, Yale University, author of The Body of Raphaelle Peale and Frederic Remington and Turn-of-the-Century America      

This information is from Choice Reviews Online, an ALA/ACRL publication, available by subscription at http://www.cro2.org/.  Reprinted with permission from CHOICE, copyright American Library Association
45-2069 QM25  MARC Science & Technology \ Health Sciences Sappol, Michael.  Dream anatomy.  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006.  177p bibl; ISBN 9780160759826 pbk, $30.00. Reviewed in 2007dec CHOICE.

Dream Anatomy was a significant anatomical and artistic imaging exhibition provided by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) five years ago. Now, thanks to the creativity of NLM's Sappol and involved staff members, and the first collaboration between the NLM and the US Government Printing Office, readers are treated to an extraordinarily comprehensive visual/print catalog long after the exhibition is over. People have a continual curiosity about the human body, and much may be learned about people through its historical study. Artistic presentations focusing on human form must have an intrinsic appeal. Why else would anatomical exhibitions and visual showings have become so popular? People are intrigued by such "know thyself" concepts. Sappol has provided a fine historical journey, embellishing the original exhibition's materials with even more from NLM's ! collecti ons. He demonstrates scientific, artistic, even humorous and mythical changes over hundreds of years of dissections, drawings, and inaccuracies concerning the human body's structural organization. The volume includes a time line of historical anatomy; technical information about anatomical illustration; further documentation about the original exhibition's sources; additional readings; and the unusual opportunity to view many of the anatomical exhibitions and graphics in this catalog on various Web sources provided. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. -- J. N. Muzio, emeritus, CUNY Kingsborough Community College
Reprinted with permission from CHOICE, copyright by the American Library Association.  © American Library Association. Contact permissions@ala-choice.org for permission to reproduce or redistribute.

Edition details

• Publisher: National Library of Medicine
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 016075982X
• ISBN 13: 9780160759826
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 180