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Article ID: CBB185950785

The Afterlife of Laurence Sterne (1713–1768): Body Snatching, Dissection and the Role of Cambridge Anatomist Charles Collignon (2016)

Dittmar, Jenna M. (Author)
Mitchell, Piers D. (Author)

Journal of Medical Biography
Volume: 24
Issue: 4
Pages: 559-565
Publication date: 2016
Language: English

URI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0967772015601584

DOI: 10.1177/0967772015601584

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Dissection Human anatomy Anatomy 18th century Collignon, Charles Sterne, Lawrence University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) University of Cambridge (UK)

This paper aims to highlight the practice of body snatching from graves in the 1700s for the purpose of providing corpses for anatomical dissection, and for stocking anatomy museums. To do this, we examine the exhumation and dissection of the famous eighteenth-century novelist Laurence Sterne and explore the involvement of Charles Collignon, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Cambridge. We also show that osteological and cut-mark analysis of a skull purported to be that of Sterne, currently housed in the Duckworth Collection at Cambridge, provides the key to solving the mystery surrounding why Sterne was resurrected.

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