Birth figures : early modern prints and the pregnant body / Rebecca Whiteley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Whiteley, Rebecca, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Obstetrics--Europe, Western--History.

Obstetrics.

Midwifery--Europe, Western--History.

Midwifery.

Childbirth in art.

Pregnancy in art.

Fetus in art.

Medical illustration--History.

Medical illustration.

Illustration of books--Europe, Western--16th century.

Illustration of books.

Illustration of books--Europe, Western--17th century.

Illustration of books--Europe, Western--18th century.

Medicine and art--Europe, Western--History.

Medicine and art.

Western Europe.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 288 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Early modern prints and the pregnant body

Place of Publication:

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2023.

Summary:

"The first full study of "birth figures," a set of illustrations which were widely reproduced in early modern books on childbirth and midwifery. Birth figures are printed images of the pregnant uterus, always shown in series, that depict the variety of ways in which a fetus can present for birth. Historian Rebecca Whiteley coined the term and here offers the first systematic analysis of the images' creation, use, and impact. Whiteley reveals their origins in ancient medicine and explores their inclusion in many medieval gynecological manuscripts, focusing on their explosion in printed midwifery and surgical books from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century in Western Europe. During this period, birth figures formed a key part of the visual culture of medicine and midwifery and were widely produced. They reflected and shaped how the pregnant body was known and treated. And by providing crucial bodily knowledge to midwives and surgeons, birth figures were also deeply entangled with wider cultural preoccupations with generation and creativity, female power and agency, knowledge and its dissemination, and even the condition of the human in the universe. Birth Figures studies how different kinds of people understood childbirth and engaged with midwifery manuals, from learned physicians to midwives to illiterate listeners. Rich and detailed, this vital history reveals the importance of birth figures in how midwifery was practiced and in how people, both medical professionals and lay readers, envisioned and understood the mysterious state of pregnancy. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I Early Printed Birth Figures (1540

1672)

One. Using Images in Midwifery Practice

Two. Pluralistic Images and the Early Modern Body

pt. II Birth Figures as Agents of Change (1672

1751)

Three. Visual Experiments

Four. Visualizing Touch and Denning a Professional Persona

pt. III The Birth Figure Persists (1751

1774)

Five. Challenging the Hunterian Hegemony.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226823126

0226823121

OCLC:

1304340890