[Woodhead, Joseph]. Catalogue or Guide to the Liverpool Museum of Anatomy

[Woodhead, Joseph]. Catalogue or Guide to the Liverpool Museum of Anatomy. Liverpool: Matthews Brothers, Printers, [c. 1870s]. 64-page pamphlet. Original light blue wrappers printed in black. Engraving depicting the museum on the lower wrapper, 1 engraving within the text. Wrappers rubbed, dulled, and spotted, minor crease to the upper corner slightly affecting the contents. Very good condition.

The Liverpool Museum of Anatomy was one of a number of such museums in the UK and US that specialised in wax anatomical models and, unlike many of the museums of professional medical organisations, were open to the public. It offered a wide variety of exhibits on the human body, including most of the internal organs; the skeleton; digestion ("articles of human food, and what they are converted into"); common surgical procedures such as the removal of kidney stones; and the usual exhibits on STDs, obstetrics (including a caesarian section model and anatomical venuses), masturbation, circumcision, hermaphrodites, and "freaks of nature". The admittance of women into such museums was controversial, but defended by many proprietors as an important educational opportunity for women who cared for their families' health. This booklet advertises the Museum's hours of admission for ladies as being Tuesdays and Fridays from 2-5pm, and also offers a course of six lectures on midwifery (p. 26). One of the exhibits aimed specifically at women was on the "dreadful effects of tight lacing" (p. 52).

This catalogue is rare. A search on WorldCat locates only four copies, at the Wellcome Library, Harvard, the University of Rochester, and the Getty Research Institute.