Lisa Rosner
@burkeandhare.bsky.social
Historian of medicine, author of The Anatomy Murders: Being the True and Spectacular History of Edinburgh's Notorious Burke and Hare and of the Man of Science Who Abetted Them in the Commission of Their Most Heinous Crimes, http://burkeandhare.com
The first trace of a future Burke and Hare victim in the Edinburgh archives: Sex, Edinburgh Style, or, Life in -- and out of --the Asylum burkeandhare.substack.com/p/sex-edinbu...
Sex, Edinburgh Style, or, Life in -- and out of --the Asylum
Caledonian Mercury, 15 January 1825; Jowita Thor, "Mary Magdalene and the "Fallen" Sisters" in Kloes and Mair, Social Christianity and Beyond, 1800-2000 (Edinburgh University Press, 2025), pp. 115-132
burkeandhare.substack.com
Anatomy Jokes; Or, A funny thing happened on the way to the cemetery burkeandhare.substack.com/p/anatomy-jo...
Anatomy Jokes
From The Albion, 19 April 1873; British Newspaper Archive, January 2026 - August 1826
burkeandhare.substack.com
More from Modern Excavations: Cadaver-Centric Infrastructure burkeandhare.substack.com/p/more-from-...
More from Modern Excavations: Cadaver-Centric Infrastructure
From Louise Fowler and Natasha Powers, Doctors, dissection and resurrection men: excavations in the 19th-century burial ground of the London Hospital, Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) 62, 2006.
open.substack.com
Calling all anatomy geeks! Learn more about what modern archaeology can tell us about dissection and resurrection men at 19th century London hospitals, open.substack.com/pub/burkeand...
Modern Excavations and the Body Trade
British Post, 16 May 1826; Henderson, et al, Archaeological evidence for 18th-century medical practice in the Old Town, 1996; Fowler and Powers, Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men, MOLA 62, 2012
open.substack.com
Gosh, I'm apparently the control group too. What do you think that means?
John Theibault@jtheibault.bsky.social · 6mo agoI took the German or Autistic diagnostic and scored Neither. I am apparently the control group. german.millermanschool.com It's interesting that of the four outcomes, Neither, Both, Autistic, German, the one that seems to pop up least often among posters at Bluesky is German.
For April 1826. I intended to write about Andrew Whiston, King of the Beggars, and how resurrection men and surgeons were deprived of his cadaver. But David Bingham at The London Dead has already written an excellent post on exactly that topic: thelondondead.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-...
The Death of the King of the Beggars; Andrew Whiston (1770-1826) St Saviour's churchyard, Southwark
Detail from "30 Extraordinary Characters..." showing Andrew Whiston in his homemade carriage When Andrew Whiston, a renowned dwarf, died on ...
thelondondead.blogspot.com
Coming to Sky History on April 7: BURKE AND HARE: THE EDINBURGH KILLERS WHO SOLD THEIR VICTIM'S BODIES FOR DISSECTION, www.history.co.uk/articles/bur.... It's the first episode in Britain's Murder Map, with Vicky McClure and Jonny Owen, www.history.co.uk/shows/britai....
Burke and Hare: The Edinburgh killers who sold their victim's bodies for dissection
Discover the true story of Burke and Hare, the Edinburgh killers who murdered for profit and sold bodies to medical science in 19th-century Scotland.
history.co.uk
By 1826, British body-snatchers could take advantage of the coaching networks to send bodies to Edinburgh -- and might a young Dr. Robert Knox have been involved? Find out more in "Addressed to the Black Bull Hotel, Edinburgh", open.substack.com/pub/burkeand...
Addressed to the Black Bull Hotel, Edinburgh
Morning Chronicle, 30 Jan 1826; Scotsman, 18 Jan 1826; Leeds Intelligencer, 16 March 1826; Morning Herald, 18 March 1826, via the British Newspaper Archive, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
open.substack.com
Our Blood and Guts walking tours will return on the 24th of January! Hear little known accounts of iconic writers, chloroform tea parties, pioneering women, grave robbing and of course Burke and Hare. Tours run every Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blood-and-...
🚨 CfP Alert! 🚨 Thanks to the generosity of the Susan Manning Workshop Fund at @iashedinburgh.bsky.social, my colleague and I are delighted to be organising a symposium, "1725-2025: Historical and Contemporary Links Between Scotland and South Asia.” PDF here: drive.google.com/file/d/1IuTn...
1825 Resurrection Men Roundup Everyone else gets a year in review, so why not bodysnatchers? Wishing my readers a Happy New Year, and all best wishes for 1826 burkeandhare.substack.com/p/1825-resur...
1825 Resurrection Men Roundup
A Year of Body-Snatching via the British Newspapers Archive, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
open.substack.com
November 1825 was a busy month for body-snatchers, as they worked night and day -- but especially night -- supplying anatomy students. We know when they were caught, thanks to newspapers -- but who knows how often the bodies shipped on schedule? burkeandhare.substack.com/p/a-damp-dri...
A Damp, Drizzly November in my Soul
Leicester Journal,4 Nov.1825; London Packet & New Lloyd's Evening Post, 23 Nov.1825; Evening Times and Oxford University & City Herald, 26 Nov.1825; Fife Herald 17 Nov. 1825, British Newspaper Archive
open.substack.com
Are graveyards haunted by the ghosts of disinterred cadavers, waiting to wreak havoc on callous Resurrection Men? If not, perhaps they should be, as we can see in A Halloween Story... burkeandhare.substack.com/p/a-hallowee...
A Halloween Story
London Sun, 1 November 1825, via British Newspaper Archive
burkeandhare.substack.com
Community Support for a Dead Child burkeandhare.substack.com/p/community-... July was a slow month for digging up dead bodies -- so why not try stealing them before they were buried? When anatomists deal with resurrection-men, they have to be prepared for the consequences.
Community Support for a Dead Child
Morning Chronicle, Thursday, 28 July, via British Newspaper Archive
open.substack.com
During our busy February 1825, some body-snatchers found ways to obtain cadavers without going through the bother of digging them up. Read more in Coffin Filled with Stones, with thanks to @threadinburgh.scot for images and info on Jamaica Street, burkeandhare.substack.com/p/coffin-fil...
What a busy month for body-snatchers was February 1825! Resurrection-men didn't work alone: they relied on friends and accomplices to help them retrieve cadavers. Find out more in burkeandhare.substack.com/p/body-snatc... and burkeandhare.substack.com/p/body-snatc...
Artist's conception of Carlo Ferrari, killed for dissection, wellcomecollection.org/works/atnk92e5, @wellcomecollection.bsky.social If London surgeons had stopped purchasing cadavers from Bishop and May in 1825, would Carlo Ferrari had lived to see his 15th birthday?
Lisa Rosner@burkeandhare.bsky.social · 2y agoAn 1825 appearance of well-known body-snatchers John Bishop and James May in the British Newspaper Archive, substack.com/home/post/p-..., for fans of @misssarahwise.bsky.social The Italian Boy: A Tale of Murder and Body Snatching in 1830s London.
An 1825 appearance of well-known body-snatchers John Bishop and James May in the British Newspaper Archive, substack.com/home/post/p-..., for fans of @misssarahwise.bsky.social The Italian Boy: A Tale of Murder and Body Snatching in 1830s London.
Letters sent home to America from Edinburgh by a medical student in the 1930s. He writes of his first dissection class at Surgeons' Hall, the Royal Infirmary’s “beautiful amphitheatre”, and also meeting his first love. #EYALove #ExploreYourArchive
Went to the Prado for the first time this past summer and was very intrigued by the Queen Cristina connection.
Centralantikvariatet@centralant.bsky.social · 2y agoFint spanskt träsnitt med drottning Kristina från 1656.
This site currently resides on the grounds of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, @immaireland.bsky.social @irishmuseums.bsky.social, image courtesy of SCDD, Paddy Healy Collection. For more on a fascinating heritage trail, see imma.ie/heritage-tra...
Bully's Acre - IMMA
Bully’s Acre presents one of the most fascinating locations on the IMMA campus. It became part of the lands of the Royal Hospital under the charter of King Charles II, but by 1680 the area that adjoin...
imma.ie
Lisa Rosner@burkeandhare.bsky.social · 2y agoFebruary is...Body Snatching Month? In February 1825, colder weather combined with ongoing medical school classes led to an uptick in activity by Resurrection-Men. The first incident took place at the notorious burial-ground, Dublin's Bully's Acre, burkeandhare.substack.com/p/resurrecti....
February is...Body Snatching Month? In February 1825, colder weather combined with ongoing medical school classes led to an uptick in activity by Resurrection-Men. The first incident took place at the notorious burial-ground, Dublin's Bully's Acre, burkeandhare.substack.com/p/resurrecti....
I'm giving a talk tomorrow at Philobiblon. 6:15 at the Ethical Society. This wonderful page will figure prominently. (I use the image on the right for my banner here)
Sooo many symphonies! So little time!
Mr. Symphonist@deeplyclassical.bsky.social · 2y agoCome what may, I'll catch up with #A-Haydn-A-Day! Day 80: Symphony No. 80 After 79 attempts, @loveinner.bsky.social finally manages to get the day and the symphony to match. Dramatic and dynamic from the start, this D-minor symphony is a throwback to Haydn's days of Sturm und Drang.
Despite needing to play catch-up, I couldn't resist doing a deep dive into #68. I spent so much time on it that I'd better be doubly quick about this one. TL;DR: It's bloody good too!
Mr. Symphonist@deeplyclassical.bsky.social · 2y ago#A-Haydn-A-Day Day 79: Symphony No. 68 One of my favourites ❤️❤️❤️ This symphony is approved by the bassoonist’s liberation front! Haydn writes for two bassoons for the first time, and places the minuet second for the last. In the process, he revolutionizes the symphony's sonic and expressive world.
An unusual legal defense: "I heard the sounds of horns and trumpets, and I thought the Resurrection Men were after me..." Read more about Charles Lynn's murder of his friend Abraham Hogg, January 1825: substack.com/home/post/p-...
Could the "eminent practical anatomist" involved have been Dr. James Syme, FRCSEd, later Prof of Clinical Surgery? The advantage of surgery over anatomy is that patients actually consent to surgical procedures, no matter how awful they appear (wellcomecollection.org/works/ujdpu8...) ...(3/3)
Here's the report from The Scotsman, which often carried news from the Edinburgh Police Court. It's a great resource for local history (2/3)...
In Edinburgh, an assault on anatomists! Or was it an affray? In late December 1824, this peaceful scene was disrupted by an angry mob attempting to demolish the coach of an "eminent anatomist," believing it carried cadavers for dissection. Find out more... (1/3) substack.com/home/post/p-...
