The doctors in labour; or a new whim wham from Guildford
- Collection:
- Images from the History of Medicine (IHM)
- Publication:
- [England] : [publisher not identified], [1726]
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Still image
- Subject(s):
- Parturition Rabbits England Toft, Mary, 1703-1763.
- Genre(s):
- Pictorial Works Cartoons
- Abstract:
- Broadsheet featuring twelve scenes with poetic captioning describing the plight of English woman Mary Toft who tricked doctors into believing that she had given birth to rabbits. "...from top left, she is held aloft by two men and a Harlequin or Merry Andrew, she has a rabbit in either hand; she pursues a rabbit while working in a field; she dreams of being impregnated by rabbit, Cupid is shown on a cloud beside her bed holding a rabbit in either hand; she is seated in a chair attended by two women while the two men and Harlequin discuss the monstrous birth; Harlequin demonstrates that he can express milk from her breast; Harlequin feels "the rabbets leapin in her belly" while two men look on; she sits on the edge of a bed and Harlequin kneels to seize a rabbit that emerges from her skirts while a doctor raises his hands in surprise, wishing to anatomize the animal; Harlequin stands behind a table holding a balance in which he weighs dung removed from the rabbit explaining to two men that this will allow him to judge whether the animal had "breath'd in air"; doctors and midwives discuss the phenomenon around a table and Harlequin enters claiming that the birth must be "praeternatural"; a crowd of gentlemen are welcomed to the bagnio in Leicester Square where Toft is housed; two men spy from the door to Toft's room as another hands her a dead rabbit; Toft, weeping, is led away to Bridewell by two constables while Harlequin 'sits upon repenting stool,/cursing his fate in being made a fool." -- British Library.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 print : 37 x 26 cm
- Technique:
- etching, black and white
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101673291 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101673291