Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius - Brossura

Dickey, Colin

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1609530101 ISBN 13: 9781609530105

Casa editrice: Unbridled Books, 2010

Riassunto

Presents a history of cranioklepty, the desire to possess the skulls of the brilliant and famous for study, for sale, or for display, and includes the after-death stories of such notables as Haydn, Beethoven, and Thomas Browne.

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Recensione

Dickey spins these stories with a storyteller’s grace and a historian’s exactitude. Cranioklepty will join those books for popular audiences that delve into the origins of eccentric intellectual lore, whether madness and lexicography (see: The Professor and the Madman) or inventions and visions by depressives, maniacs, and malcontents. Human endeavor is forever inclined to oddity, and with this book, Colin Dickey provides a delightful illumination of one intriguing example of our quixotic pursuits.”
The Brooklyn Rail

If only we could skip the textbooks and share something that’s all kinds of real world creepy and awesome like Colin Dickey’s Cranioklepty .It’s a very strange story, the kind of science history that all too often gets left off the cultural map. Teens will eat this stuff up, however, and if they happen to be fans of author Paul Collins, then they’re really going to feel lucky.”
Bookslut

[An] entertaining and illuminating book .[Dickey] explores this macabre episode of history armed with formidable research skills and the ability to tell his story with the gusto it deserves.” Minneapolis Star Tribune

Dickey's well-vetted account illuminates the mystery and controversy of a bizarre tradition throughout the ages.” Publishers Weekly

"Colin Dickey... has served up a fascinating book. Well-researched, clear and concise, this book is full of interesting historical anecdotes.” ForeWord Magazine

It was larceny most ghoulish”
Boston Globe

"Weaving the story’s details among other equally bizarre episodes of renowned craniums gone missing, Dickey fairly considers what motivated graveyard pilferers....Those with a taste for the macabre who may have read Brian Burrell’s Postcards from the Brain Museum (2005) and Russell Shorto’s Descartes’ Bones (2008) will enjoy Dickey’s eccentric tales." Booklist

Dickey's book turns out to be a highly unusual, fascinating and
cautionary Halloween choice.” Cleveland Plain Dealer

With an engaging writing style, fascinating historical tidbits, and some very cool pictures, Dickey manages to give the reader a sense of the politics and intrigue behind a very unusual hobby.” Internet Review of Books

like a work by Hieronymus Bosch or Bruegel the Elder -- a giant world made of many little pieces, all gathered together inside the same, solid frame. KQED.org

Cranioklepty is a revelatory book for those who think of head-hunting as an activity pursued only by non-European cultures. This story of European head-hunting and its relationship to modern science is a fascinating read with an all-star cast that includes Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn. The admonition to "Keep your head on" has never sounded so bittersweet!” Dr. Robert Hicks, Director of the Mütter Museum

Product Description

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Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Unbridled Books
• Data di pubblicazione: 2010
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1609530101
• ISBN 13: 9781609530105
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 308
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile