Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius
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Beginning with the surprising opening of Haydn's grave in October 1820, Cranioklepty takes us through the extraordinary history of a peculiar kind of obsession. The desire to possess the skulls of the brilliant and famous — for study, for sale, for public (and very private) display — has in some people been irresistible. And the lengths they have gone to achieve their acquisitions have at times become a comedy of the grotesque. The after-death stories of Haydn, Beethoven, Emanuel Swedenborg, Sir Thomas Browne and others have never before been told in such wretched detail and lightning vividness. Fully researched, indexed, and illustrated with some surprising images, this is a fascinating and authoritive history of ideas carries along on the guilty pleasures of an anthology of real afterlife gothic tales. Publishers Weekly The word “skullduggery” finds a new meaning in Dickey's well-vetted account of those obsessed with owning the skulls of the highly talented and famous. Fiction and nonfiction writer Dickey (co-editor of Failure! Experiments in Aesthetic and Social Practices) takes the reader back to the plucky grave robbers who stole the craniums of famed composers Haydn and Beethoven, Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, artist Francisco Goya, the English doctor and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne and others to sell, study or put on public display. The skull obsession was triggered by the infamous “Gall system,” created in the late 18th century by Franz Joseph Gall, who theorized that the bumps and dents of the skull could provide a measure of intelligence. The author not only describes the profitable trade of grave robbing, but the chemical technique of cleaning a skull, the patronage of medical schools and the complex scientific debates about whether the size and shape of skulls and brains tell us anything about human intelligence or personality. Blending science with historical drama, Dickey's book illuminates the mystery and controversy of a bizarre tradition throughout the ages. (Sept. 3)
Prologue: Non Omnis MoriarPart 1 A Most Valuable Relic1 Mapping the Invisible 152 The Music Lover 353 "So Was She, So She Is Now" 514 The Golden Lyre 665 "All the Ferrets Were Set in Motion" 80Part 2 The Alchemical Body6 "The Riddle-Filled Book of Destiny" 897 The New Science 1048 Skulduggery 1249 The Brainowner and His Skull 14810 Fragments of a Mystery 167Part 3 The Fate of His Bones11 A City of Corpses 17712 Scientific Golgothas 18813 A Measure of Fame 20114 Some Last Pathetic Quibbling 21315 Homo Renaissancus 223Part 4 Repatriations16 Homecomings 23917 Rival Skulls 24918 The Ruined Bridges to the Past 26719 Hoaxes and Ringers 28320 The End of the End of the Story 294Bibliography 303Index of Names 307
