The Sick Rose: Disease and the Art of Medical Illustration

I bought this based on the great reviews ( as always, thanks fellow amazonies) and I am fascinated by this stuff. I have dozens and dozens of old, old medical books, medical anomaly books, forensic books but this one added a whole other level to it for me - the human faces, looking these horrifically ill people in the eyes, learning that the woman on the front cover caught and died of cholera in *4 hours* but also seeing her drawn, and then compared, when she was well. how beautiful she was. how fleeting every moment is. the pictures are remarkable and most look like photographs, they're so detailed and clear. its hard to look at. the text is filled with medical history- dissection was outlawed except on criminals and...orphans. the archaic,, often sadistic cures that were high medicine at the time. how medicine evolved, why, who. Heartbreaking, humanizing,, painstakingly thorough. This isnt a ghoul-factor book - its an education. my only complaint is the way the drawings are labeled. they usually have their titles and explanations several pages away, devoting entire pages to them or several on a page. they're then listed as "previous overleaf", "above right overleaf" etc. I found it irritating at times to have to flip back and forth to read what I was seeing and even then at times it was confusing to figure out what was what because there are a LOT of drawings. I would have liked the explanation on the page with the graphic. Extra cool are old Chinese watercolors of faces with pustules, every one being made by raising the paper itself. an incredible book that will show the horrors of illness, but you can't look away because it's incredible art.

The Sick Rose is a beautifully gruesome and strangely fascinating visual tour through the golden age of medical illustration before color photography. The nineteenth century experienced an explosion of epidemics such as cholera and diphtheria, driven by industrialization, urbanization and poor hygiene. In this pre-color-photography era, accurate images were relied upon to teach students and aid diagnosis. The best examples, featured here, are remarkable pieces of art that attempted to elucidate the mysteries of the body, and the successive onset of each affliction. Bizarre and captivating images, including close-up details and revealing cross-sections, make all too clear the fascinations of both doctors and artists of the time. Barnett illuminates the fears and obsessions of a society gripped by disease, yet slowly coming to understand and combat it. The age also saw the acceptance of vaccination and the germ theory, and notable diagrams that transformed public health, such as John Snow's cholera map and Florence Nightingale's pioneering histograms, are included and explained. Organized by disease, The Sick Rose ranges from little-known ailments now all but forgotten to the epidemics that shaped the modern age. It is a fascinating Wunderkammer of a book that will enthrall artists, students, designers, scientists and the incurably curious everywhere. With illustrations taken from some of the world’s rarest medical books, The Sick Rose forms an unforgettable and profoundly human reminder of mankind’s struggle with disease. This volume is highly recommended to all who are interested in medical history.

Received as a birthday present and I've not been able to stop looking at it! The illustrations are beautiful and so detailed. The paper is high quality and feels wonderful when you're turning the pages. I plan to put it on my living room bookshelf if I can put it down long enough.I saw a view reviews about not a lot of information, more pictures than anything and yes, that is true but, the pictures are so lovely and most of the ailments depicted we now know a lot about so there does not need to be more information really. It is am expensive boom but the quality makes it worth it. It's really a wonderful book

This book is a wonderful and a morbidly interesting one to have if you are curious about how sicknesses and the ailing human body were studied in the old days before modern medical discoveries and technologies began to happen. The pictures are wonderfully drawn and painted but they are not easy to look at. We have come a long way towards better health care,which I appreciate very much. At least every budding medical student should be required to study this book and the rest of us will appreciate the improvement of health care today that we enjoy today,although much more needs to be done.

Bought as a gift, and had to order another for myself. Great photos!!!!

Absolutely love this as a coffee table book! Beautiful illustrations of STDs! Not for the faint of heart! Love showing to people and freaking them out!

Fantastic drawings of horrible afflictions, most of which can be treated today. Made me happy for medical science’s progress.

I purchased this for one of my girlfriends Christmas gifts and she absolutely loves it. The illustrations are copied from an original early 20th century medical journal of some sort and it makes for the perfect coffee table book and conversation piece. That is, of course, after she actually read it cover to cover.Great book and a great price compared to Barns and Nobel (pretty much every book on Amazon is cheaper)

Buen encuadernado, diseño agradable, contiene antecedentes históricos de la Ilustración médica

Livro de Richard Barnett que deu muito o que falar em vários blogs e estranhos cantos da internet sobre a sua premissa: a mórbida porém não ignorável beleza da natureza humana em seu pior estado possível. Trata-se não de uma luta contra o material ou contra seres da mesma raça mas sim da sempre atemporal medicina que vem cada dia mais se atualizando (ou não) sobre as novidades das várias maneiras de destruições internas da tão fragilizada máquina humana. O acabamento é maravilhoso, cada detalhe é um real gasto com muito prazer. Livro obrigatório para curiosos e pensadores.

Ein super Buch, sehr interessant.

The art work is sublime. Fantastic book

Wie bereits in der Überschrift erwähnt für Mediziner, angehende oder interessierte ein sehr gutes Buch!Die Qualität des Leinen Einschlags, die festen Seiten und die Bildqualität sind sehr hochwertig!Dieses Buch ist nur auf englisch erhältlich.