In Search of Medical Museum Books

On the heels of the publication of the new book Medical Museums: Past, Present and Future, I am working to assemble a master list of all known medical museum books and catalogs. Many of these museums are quite small and obscure, and thier publications, if they exist, hard to find.

If any Morbid Anatomy readers happen to know of any such publications, no matter how humble, I would greatly appreciate if if you could let me know! You can do so by emailing me at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com.

You can find also out more Medical Museums: Past, Present and Future--with its "17 richly illustrated chapters" covering collections such as Berlin's Charité, the Copenhagen Medical Museion, Edinburgh's Surgeons’ Hall, La Specola of Florence, London's Hunterian and Wellcome Collection, the Mütter of Philadelphia, Morbid Anatomy, and much more!--by clicking here; you can buy a copy of your own by clicking here.

WANTED: Intern for Upcoming London-Based 10 Day Festival of Curiosity and Curiosities

WANTED!

Frighteningly organized interns for upcoming (30 August - 8 September) festival of curiosity and curiosities programmed by Morbid Anatomy, Strange Attractor, and The Coney Island Museum at a number of venues around London.

We are looking for is someone to help us research and contact venues, speakers, and performers; oversee scheduling and logistics; assist with publicity; and write professional emails to individuals and institutions.

The position is, I am sorry to report, unpaid. However, you will be generously rewarded with books, alcohol, food, and full access for yourself and two friends to the festival and other events. Work will be part time (3-6 hours a week) but focussed and occasionally (and inevitably) stressful.

We truly believe that, for the right person with the right interests, this will be a fantastic learning opportunity, and a chance to develop relationships with fascinating and brilliant people as well as remarkable and overlooked venues and institutions.

If interested, please email a short letter about yourself and your suitability for the role to congress[@]strangeattractor.co.uk by 28 May.

Please feel free to pass this on to any potentially interested parties.

Image: L0063532 Credit: Wellcome Library, London via Wellcome Images
Poster: For twelve nights only, commencing Monday, Feb. 23, 1874 : South London Palace, London Road / proprietors, Speedy and Poole. 1874

Seeking Hi Resolution of Dance of Death Poster, 1919, Attributed to Josef Fenneker

Greetings all; do any of you lovely Morbid Anatomy readers out there happen to have a high-resolution version of the above image, or know a book that contains it, or another way I might source it? Please send any suggestions to morbidanatomy@gmail.com. Thanks so much!

Full citation for image, from a 2010 Swann Gallery auction:

THE DANCE OF DEATH. 1919.
ATTRIBUTED TO JOSEF FENNEKER (1895-1956)
54 1/2x41 inches, 138 1/2x104 cm. 

Condition B+: restoration along vertical and horizontal folds; minor restoration in margins.
Fenneker designed over three hundred movie posters. His recognizable style drew largely on German Expressionism combined with a flair of aesthetic decadence. Written by Fritz Lang, Totentanz is considered by The Internet Movie Database to be a "lost film [in which] a beautiful dancer's sexual allure is used by an evil cripple to entice men to their deaths. Falling in love with one of the potential victims, she is told by the cripple that he will set her free if her lover, actually a murderer himself, survives and escapes a bizarre labyrinthe which runs beneath the cripple's house" (www.imdb.com). Even without a signature, this poster is clearly the work of Fenneker. Although another image by Fenneker for this film exists, this particular version is previously unrecorded.
Estimate $2,000-3,000

Call for Papers: The Art of Death and Dying Conference, University of Houston, October 25-27, 2012

Just received word of this promising looking upcoming conference entitled "The Art of Death and Dying;" calls for work are due May 1, and full details follow:

The Art of Death and Dying, University of Houston, October 25-27, 2012
http://artofdeathanddying.blogspot.com/

The University of Houston Libraries, in partnership with the Blaffer Art Museum, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, the Department for Hispanic Studies, the Honors College and School of Art, will host a three day symposium titled "The Art of Death and Dying" on October 25-27, 2012.

We welcome scholars in all disciplines to submit paper proposals on literary, visual, and performing arts topics related to death and dying. Topics of the symposium include, but are not limited to:

• Depictions or interpretations of death and dying in performing and visual arts
• Depictions of interpretations of death and dying in literature
• Depictions of death and dying in film, radio, and television
• Commemoration of the dead in art, architecture and performance
• Artifacts of death and dying as represented in archival or museum collections
• Artistic depictions of the after life
• Cultural death rituals
• Cultural expressions of mourning
• Death and dying in Latin American arts and culture
• Readings of original creative material on the subject
• Performances of original material on the subject
• Presentation of original visual material on the subject
• Memorial architecture
• Cemetery design
• Analysis of an artist's, architect's, performer's, filmmaker's or writer's work related to the subject

Proposals related to death in Latin American arts and visual culture are encouraged. The organizers will accept presentations in both Spanish and English.

Papers will be selected based upon the quality of the proposal (including merit of the topic, clarity of expression, and relevance to the conference theme), the proposal’s ability to provoke critical exchange and debate, and opportunities for interaction between participants that will enable attendees to engage in a truly interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and viewpoints.

Presenters will be afforded the opportunity for their symposium paper/presentation to be published in the Texas Digital Library.

Papers will be twenty minutes in length and will be followed by ten minutes of discussion. Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted on the symposium website.

The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2012.

You can find more here. Thanks so much to friend and former boss Barbara Mathe for sending this along.

Image: Cimitero Monumentale di Milano, © Joanna Ebenstein; click on image to see much larger, more detailed version.