The Making of Mr. Gray's Anatomy

by Ruth Richardson

Overview

When Gray's Anatomy appeared in 1858, contemporaries immediately recognized that it was a departure from anything that had come before. Sales were brisk, and the book rapidly became not just a bestseller, but the standard work. Created by two young men in only two years in the mid-nineteenth century, Gray's Anatomy is the only textbook of human anatomy continuously in print for the last 150 years.
Commemorating this remarkable anniversary, The Making of Mr. Gray's Anatomy tells the fascinating story of the origin of this groundbreaking book. Providing a wealth of historical context, Dr. Ruth Richardson examines both the mid-Victorian medical world in which Henry Gray and the brilliant illustrator Henry Vandyke Carter operated and the vigorous publishing industry in London at that time. Along the way, Richardson explores the scientific and cultural life of the medical school dissecting room and dead house, as well as the lives of those whose corpses ended up on the slab. The very different personalities and life-stories of Gray and Carter emerge in the telling, as do those of their publishers, and the many other individuals who were involved in the making of the book itself. Indeed, The Making of Mr. Gray's Anatomy investigates the entire production process—from the book's conception in 1855 to its reception by the medical press in 1858—via typesetters, wood-engravers, steam printers, paper and printing-ink suppliers, paper-folders, stitchers and bookbinders. Here we encounter individuals motivated by money, vanity, altruism, scientific discovery, professional pride, and the quest for faith and fame.
Vividly written and painstakingly researched, The Making of Mr. Gray's Anatomy illuminates a vibrant human document, one that has guided medical students for a century and a half.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199552993
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/15/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ruth Richardson is Senior Visiting Research Fellow in History at the University of Hertfordshire at Hatfield; Affiliated Scholar in the History of Science at the University of Cambridge; and Society of Apothecaries Examiner and Lecturer in the History of Medicine.

Table of Contents

Introduction1. The Words: Mr Gray of Belgravia2. The Pictures: Dr Carter of Scarborough3. The Enterprise: J.W.Parker & Son of West Strand4. The Process of Creation: Person or Persons Unknown5. The Raw Material: The Friendless Poor of London6. The Process of Creation7. The Process of Production8. 1858: The Book Appears9. Calamity10. FuturityAcknowledgementsReferencesBibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Philip W. Leon, PhD (The Citadel)
Description: This splendid book tells how Gray's Anatomy became an essential part of medical history. It answers some important questions: Who was Henry Gray, and what qualified him to write the textbook that bears his name? Who was Henry Vandyke Carter who illustrated the original Gray's Anatomy? Also, because the textbook was a milestone in medical publishing when it appeared 150 years ago, we learn of the labor-intensive process of producing a book in the nineteenth century.
Purpose: This book addresses these specific questions, but along the way it informs us about life in London in the 1850s and the conditions in which medical students learned about anatomy. Although Gray's Anatomy revealed no new concepts or reversals of existing knowledge of anatomy, the form of presentation and the clarity of the illustrations immediately placed it in the forefront of anatomical texts. The author amply succeeds in her objectives to present the biographies of the writer and the illustrator and their often fractious relationship.
Audience: Anyone interested in medical history will find this book informative and entertaining. All medical professionals, particularly surgeons, will appreciate the first-rate research and the elegant presentation. Scholars of nineteenth century, no matter what discipline, will profit from reading about the society that enabled Gray's Anatomy to succeed as a publishing venture.
Features: This book reveals little-known facts about Gray. He could be charming and brilliant but also self-serving and reluctant to acknowledge the assistance of others. He was not an MD, although this is not surprising because most apothecary-surgeons were not university trained physicians. Gray died at age 34, three years after the publication of his book in 1858. Henry Vandyke Carter, who was an MD, allowed Gray to minimize Carter's contributions. Carter married a woman of questionable moral character who made his life miserable. Also interesting is the commitment of the publisher to make Gray's Anatomy the standard in the field. When production problems arose, the publisher, J.W. Parker & Son, of West Strand, London, threw all of its resources into sustaining the project.
Assessment: This is one of the best books on medical history that I have seen. The author lovingly assembles her material, each page's typography, art, and arrangement emulating the care with which Gray's Anatomy was created. This is a superb contribution to medical history and belongs in every university library.

Doody's Review Service

"...elegant and detailed."—The Economist

"This is one of the best books on medical history that I have seen. The author lovingly assembles her material, each page's typography, art, and arrangement emulating the care with which Gray's Anatomy was created. This is a superb contribution to medical history and belongs in every university library."—Philip W. Leon, PhD, in Doody's

"The best possible companion to Gray's Anatomy."—The Lancet

"...thoroughly engaging....[Ruth Richardson] brings...meticulous research, eye for telling detail, and evocative writing to The Making of Gray's Anatomy."—New England Journal of Medicine

"...the author brings just enough fact to bear on her subject to make the book one of those rarities — history that reads like a novel."—The Wall Street Journal

"Ruth Richardson, a medical historian at Cambridge University, has produced this work for our pleasure and our delight."—Care Management Journals

From the Publisher

In this, the 150th anniversary of the original publication of Gray's Anatomy, Richardson, a scholar of the history of science, relates how this classic came into being. Richardson does a creditable job of explaining how two young doctors, Henry Gray and Henry Vandyke Carter, teamed together to create an anatomy manual better than any available for students in surgery. Their version had better and larger drawings (in fact, their size, which contributed to the book's success, was an accident: the illustrations were meant to be 25% smaller), simpler text and a very successful integration of surgical techniques with anatomical features. Richardson also impressively reviews the technicalities of scientific publication in the mid-19th century. Far less successful is the analysis of the two men behind Gray's Anatomy. With little pertinent material extant, Richardson is left to surmise with a plethora of "perhaps" and "probably." Conversations between the two authors, between Gray and his publisher, and between the publisher and the printer are simply manufactured. Nonetheless, Richardson uses Gray's Anatomy as a springboard to present an interesting slice of scientific history. Illus. (Jan.)

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