TY - BOOK AU - Dirks,Whitney TI - Monstrosity, Bodies, and Knowledge in Early Modern England: Curiosity to See and Behold T2 - Premodern Health, Disease, and Disability SN - 9789048537969 AV - HV1552 .D57 2024 U1 - 305.9/08094109032 23/eng/20240712 PY - 2024///] CY - Amsterdam PB - Amsterdam University Press KW - Disabilities KW - Great Britain KW - History KW - People with disabilities KW - AUP Wetenschappelijk KW - Amsterdam University Press KW - Health and Medicine KW - History, Art History, and Archaeology KW - Sociology and Social History KW - HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / Stuart Era (1603-1714) KW - bisacsh KW - Early modern history, social history, monstrous births, knowledge, news N1 - Frontmatter --; Table of Contents --; List of Figures, Maps, and Tables --; Acknowledgments --; Dedication --; Conventions and Abbreviations --; Preface. A Note about Form --; Étude 1. An Anomalous Birth --; Chapter 1. Introduction: Monstrosity, Disability, and Knowledge --; Étude 2. A Newsworthy Event --; Chapter 2. Monstrous Print --; Étude 3. A Popular Attraction --; Chapter 3. Monstrous Shows --; Étude 4. The Expert Visitor --; Chapter 4. The Royal Society --; Étude 5. A Decorative Commodity --; Chapter 5. Visual Culture --; Étude 6. The Lawsuit --; Chapter 6. Conclusion: Autonomy, Agency, and Unfree Labour --; Appendix 1: James Paris du Plessis’s Biography --; Appendix 2: Agreement between Henry Walrond and Richard Herring --; Bibliographical Abbreviations --; Primary Sources: Archival --; Primary Sources: Printed, Visual, Material, Modern Editions --; Secondary Sources --; Index; restricted access N2 - In 1680, the poor cottager Mary Herring gave birth to conjoined twins. At two weeks of age, they were kidnapped to be shown for money, and their deaths shortly thereafter gave rise to a four-year legal battle over ownership and income. The Herring twins’ microhistory weaves throughout this book, as the chapter structure alternates between the family’s ordeal and the broader cultural context of how so-called ‘monstrous births’ (a contemporary term for deformed humans and animals) were discussed in cheap print, exhibited in London’s pubs and coffeehouses, examined by the Royal Society, portrayed in visual culture, and litigated in London’s legal courts. This book ties together social and medical history, Disability Studies, and Monster Studies to argue that people discussed unusual bodies in early modern England because they provided newsworthy entertainment, revealed the will of God, and demonstrated the internal workings of Nature UR - https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048537969?locatt=mode:legacy UR - https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9789048537969 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9789048537969/original ER -