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Wretch's Illustrations of Shakespeare, no.5
Unknown, 1829, Lithograph
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of 48
Wretch's Illustrations of Shakespeare, no.5
Wretch's Illustrations of Shakespeare, no.5
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Item no
21664
Title
Wretch's Illustrations of Shakespeare: "Illustrious Wretch", no.5
Description
William Burke and William Hare stand over a sleeping man and discuss whether to murder him or not. Hare holds a pillow and Burke has his hand on it to stop him approaching the sleeping man. Both men are wearing blue flock coats. A tea chest lies on the floor at the head of the bed.
Artist / maker
Unknown
Engraver
R.H.Nimmo
Date
1829
Type
Lithograph
Location
Edinburgh and Scottish Collection
This is the fifth illustration from 'Wretch's Illustrations of Shakspeare' and it depicts William Burke and William Hare. The lithographic prints consist of caricatures of the main people involved in the case of William Burke and William Hare drawn by R.H Nimmo.
The man nearest the head of the bed is William Hare, the other William Burke. The box on the floor is probably meant to be the tea chest in which the body would be transported to the medical school for Dr Knox.
William Burke and William Hare provided corpses for dissection by murdering people, but for almost one hundred years corpses had been provided from recent graves by people known as 'resurrectionists'. People had taken various self-help measures such as placing cages known as mortsafes over graves, or paying subscriptions to gravewatching societies, which meant the graveyards would be patrolled by armed guards. None of these methods was foolproof. But the crimes of Burke and Hare created so much anxiety amongst the public that in 1832 the Anatomy Act was passed which ensured a legal supply of bodies for anatomists.
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Burke and Hare's Edinburgh
Graveyards and cemeteries of Edinburgh
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