An autopsic art: 'Dr Granville's mummy' in the Royal Society archives

Riggs, Christina (2016) An autopsic art: 'Dr Granville's mummy' in the Royal Society archives. Notes and Records, 70 (2). pp. 107-133. ISSN 0035-9149

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Abstract

In 1821, Augustus Bozzi Granville FRS unwrapped and dissected an ancient Egyptian mummy, presenting the results of his examination to the Royal Society in 1825. He commissioned artist Henry Perry to draw the process in stages; these drawings were subsequently engraved by James Basire for publication in the Philosophical Transactions. This article presents the original drawings for the first time, allowing comparison with their engravings. Taken together with Granville’s accounts of the mummy unwrapping, the drawings demonstrate the significant role that illustration and other visual practices played in anatomical argumentation in the early 19th century, as well as the prestige that commissioned illustrations lent to the performance and dissemination of scientific expertise. Moreover, the drawings include one of the key visual tropes of race science – a skull in left-facing profile, mapped with a facial angle – and thus indicate the early incorporation of Egyptian mummies into typologies of race.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	augustus bozzi granville,royal society archives,egyptian mummification,mummy unwrapping,scientific illustration,race science
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Art, Media and American Studies
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	17 Mar 2016 11:00
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2022 00:51
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/57510
DOI:	10.1098/rsnr.2015.0050

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