Special Cases: Natural Anomalies and Historical Monsters - Tapa dura

In this book Purcell reflects on tne concept of the monster as anatomical phenomenon and as it is represented through art and explores humanity's age old obsession with mythical and literal monstrosity in a way that is not for the faint hearted.

What is a monster? Is it a thing with a hairy face, webbed fingers, and green skin? Or is it simply anything we don't understand? An art book for and about the curious, "Special Cases" explores humanity's age-old obsession with mythical and literal monstrosity in a way that is not for the faint-hearted. Using photographs she has taken at natural history and anatomical museums, models of her own creation, and artwork from numerous private and public collections, celebrated photographer Rosamond W. Purcell delightedly delves into squeamish subjects such as dwarves, giants, conjoined twins, hairy people, albinos, and humans with animal heads. Sure to capture the imagination of artists, historians, and anyone with a taste for the perverse, "Special Cases" is a clever visual history whose pages and pictures reveal the fiipside of what we call normal.