The Italian Boy: A Tale of Murder and Body-Snatching in 1830's London - Hardcover

Wise, Sarah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805075372 ISBN 13: 9780805075373

Verlag: Metropolitan Books, 2004

Inhaltsangabe

Describes the 1831 murder of a young orphaned vagrant and the ensuing sale of his body to a London medical college, a case that led to the arrest and trial of his killers, "resurrection men" who killed in order to satisfy the demand for fresh cadavers for the study of human anatomy. 30,000 first printing.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

A historian of Victorian England, Sarah Wise has written for The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent on Sunday, and several magazines. The Italian Boy is her first book. She lives in London.

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From The Italian Boy:

Urban poverty, so often a disgusting and harrowing sight to the respectable, could also be a source of wonder and intrigue. A beggar with a certain look, or air, or "act," could feed on city dwellers' craving for novelty and display. To London's grimmest streets, to a population with little access to books or periodicals, and no access to parks, zoos, galleries, or museums—Italian boys brought music, intriguing objects, and strange animals, plus, in many cases, their own beauty. The economies of the Italian states had been devastated by the Napoleonic Wars and throughout the 1820s there was large-scale migration, with many Italian artisans moving to northern European cities to pursue their trades. While later in the century Italian street children would be known for playing musical instruments and dancing, until the mid-1830s their principal source of income was exhibiting small animals as well as wax and plaster figures. The objects and creatures were rented out to the boys each morning by padroni who ran the trade. All in all, Italy was providing London with a better class of vagrant. The pathos an Italian boy evoked could earn his master six or seven shillings a day. Dead—and apparently murdered to supply the surgeons—his appeal only seemed to increase.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Metropolitan Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2004
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0805075372
• ISBN 13: 9780805075373
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 352
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: GS1 Slovakia; https://www.gs1sk.org; ; Nantersk� 23; Žilina; 010 08; Slowakei