Palfreyman, Harriet (2012) Visualising venereal disease in London c.1780-1860. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis explores the various roles that visual representations played in the
theoretical understanding of, and practical approaches to, venereal disease in
London’s medical marketplace from around 1780 to 1860. Venereal disease was
understood in a variety of ways, and conceptualised within a number of different
medical disciplines, such as pathology and dermatology. The analytic lens of
visual representation allows the historian to explore the complexities of these
understandings. This thesis therefore contributes to the literature on the
historicising of disease. The period under discussion was one of enormous
change in medical theory, practice and disciplinary organisation. Disease was
being conceptualised as something physical within the body, meaning images of
the disease took on new meanings. Furthermore, these representations played an
important role in medical education of the period, as well as in the legitimisation
of new disciplines. Within these new theoretical paradigms and institutional
spaces, various new meanings were created for the visual representations, and
their creators and users had to employ various strategies to limit their meaning
and control their interpretations. This thesis utilises a variety of visual and
material representations – atlas illustrations, wax moulages, paintings, casts,
models and pathological preparations – to see how meaning was negotiated for
these visual representations. Venereal disease is a particularly complex case, as it
was considered difficult to depict, therefore debates and disagreements over how
it was to be visualised reveal much about how the disease was conceptualised.
Through five chapters, the thesis explores how these representations functioned
within different spaces in London’s medical marketplace, such as public
museums, private schools, hospitals and university medical departments.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Sexually transmitted diseases -- Great Britain -- London -- History -- 18th century, Sexually transmitted diseases in art -- History, Sexually transmitted diseases -- Great Britain -- London -- History -- 19th century
Official Date:	March 2012
Dates:	Date Event March 2012 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of History
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Stein, Claudia
Sponsors:	Wellcome Trust (London, England)
Extent:	xii, 370 leaves : illustrations (mostly color).
Language:	eng

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