"Anatomy of Hysteria" Lecture Series with "Medical Muses" Author Asti Hustvedt! Collector's Cabinet Exhibition! This Week and Beyond at Morbid Anatomy

We have much exciting news and many new events to announce this week at Morbid Anatomy!

First off, we are extremely excited to be launching our three-part lecture series devoted to the fascinating 19th century phenomenon of hysteria with Asti Hustvedt, author of the excellent book Medical Muses: Hysteria in Nineteenth-Century Paris this Wednesday night!

In the book, Hustvedt uses the stories of three of the great divas of the Salpêtrière to examine the history of Dr. Charcot and his famous clinic. Her examination of the taxonomically-troubling overlaps at the core of the disease--science and art, mind and body, clinic and carnival, miracles and medicine, mind and the body--beautifully frames the central paradox of hysteria, its simultaneous realness and imaginariness, so baffling to, as she puts it, an "era without demons and before Freud's unconscious."
In the book, Hustvedt uses the stories of three of the great divas of the Salpêtrière to examine the history of Charcot and his famous clinic. Her examination of the taxonomically-troubling overlaps at the core of the disease--science and art, mind and body, clinic and carnival, miracles and medicine, mind and the body--beautifully frame the central paradox of hysteria, its simultaneous realness and imaginariness, so baffling to, as she puts it, an "era without demons and before Freud's unconscious."

Her "Anatomy of Hysteria" lecture series will cover the same territory as her book over the course of three illustrated lectures: Creating the Perfect Hysterical Specimen (This Wednesday, January 28th; tickets and more here); The Photographic Iconography of Hysteria (Wednesday, February 4th; tickets and more here); and Hysterical Demons and Pathological Saints (Wednesday, February 11; tickets and more here). Each lecture is $8, but you can purchase a ticket to all three--which we highly recommend! for only $20.

We would also like to thank all those who attended ourepic opening partyfor our newCollector's Cabinet exhibition last Friday night!On view through March 29, thiswill be the first of a series showcasing extraordinary objects hidden in private collections, with captions written by the collectors themselves. The show features such curiosities as eccentric Victorian taxidermist Walter Potter's two-faced kitten; an enormous 16th century painting depicting a witches' gathering;the5-volume Physica Sacra; Weimar erotica from the collection of Mel Gordon, author of Voluptuous Panic (don't miss his Valentine's day talk and screening!); 19th century danse macabre figurines; a real human tattoo in a jar; two immense anthropomorphic taxidermytableaux once on view at the Cress Funeral Home; an exploded (or "Beauchene") human skeletal preparation prepared by Ryan Cohn (Oddities); and much. much more.
 

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NEWLY ANNOUNCED EVENTS 

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IMMEDIATELY UPCOMING EVENTS

• A History of Serial Murder from One Million, B.C. to the Present with Harold Schechter: An Illustrated Lecture with Harold Schechter, author of The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers and The Whole Death Catalog
  Tuesday, January 27th, 8pm, $8, Tickets (and more info) here 

• Creating the Perfect Hysterical Specimen: Illustrated Lecture with Asti Hustvedt, author of Medical Muses, Hysteria in Nineteenth Century Paris(The Anatomy of Hysteria: Clinical Collaborations and Coercions in 19th Century Paris  Part I)
  Wednesday, January 28th, 8pm, $8 ($20 for the 3 Lectures on Hysteria), Tickets (and more info) here  

• The Photographic Iconography of Hysteria: Illustrated lecture with Asti Hustvedt, author of Medical Muses, Hysteria in Nineteenth Century Paris
  (The Anatomy of Hysteria: Clinical Collaborations and Coercions in 19th Century Paris  Part II)
  Wednesday, February 4th, 8pm, $8 ($20 for the 3 Lectures on Hysteria), Tickets (and more info) here

• Hysterical Demons and Pathological Saints: Illustrated Lecture with Asti Hustvedt, author of Medical Muses, Hysteria in Nineteenth Century Paris
  (The Anatomy of Hysteria: Clinical Collaborations and Coercions in 19th Century Paris Part III)
  Wednesday, February 11th, 8pm, $8 ($20 for the 3 Lectures on Hysteria), Tickets (and more info) here 

• Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class: Night Time Edition
  Thursday, January 29th, 7pm-10.30pm, $110.00 (one-headed) / $125.00 (two-headed), Tickets (and more info) here

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HANDY LIST OF ALL UPCOMING EVENTS