Physical Disability and Deformity in Nineteenth-Century Britain

Throughout the 19th century, Britain witnessed a remarkable transformation in the ways in which individuals with physical impairments experienced the world. This volume includes historical primary sources that outline both medical and experiential perspectives of physical disability.

Offering historical primary sources that outline both medical and experiential perspectives of physical disability, this book provides frequently mentioned but rarely provided material and supports readers in making sense of the material themselves to develop students’ historical sensibilities, as well as their critical thinking, critical reading skills and their ability to perform historical document analysis. Throughout the nineteenth century, Britain witnessed a remarkable transformation in the ways in which individuals with physical impairments experienced the world and the ways in which they were perceived, treated, and represented. The rise of industrialisation in the nineteenth century created new types of physical disability and deformity through accidents and injuries. Moreover, new medical interventions conducted in increasing numbers of hospitals, particularly in the growing specialisms of orthopaedics and teratology (birth defects), sought to fix acute and formerly fatal physical conditions, creating new surgical pioneers including William Little, Hugh Owen Thomas, Robert Jones and Frederick Treves. Focusing on British sources, but including the growing international network of medical professionals, prosthesis supplier, freak show entertainers and the development of new surgical techniques and assistive technologies during and following the American Civil War (1861-5), this book provides primary sources showing the impact of Victorian and Edwardian forms of medicalisation, institutionalisation, and commercialisation on the experiences of those with physical disabilities and deformities up to 1914, when the First World War radically altered the meanings, experiences and representations of the physically disabled once again. The volume is divided into three overlapping parts, allowing for a comprehensive but structured view of conceptions, experiences and representations of physical disability and deformity across the long nineteenth century. Each part will incorporate a variety of source material, ranging from medical accounts, personal testimony, literary representation, advertisements, ephemera, and images.