The Body Collected in Australia: A History of Human Specimens and the Circulation of Biomedical Knowledge...

— —

Eugenia Pacitti (Monash University, USA)

The Body Collected in Australia

A History of Human Specimens and the Circulation of Biomedical Knowledge

Eugenia Pacitti (Monash University, USA)

$59.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Bloomsbury Academic
30 October 2025

Australasian & Pacific history; Colonialism & imperialism; History of medicine

Offering insight into nineteenth- and early twentieth-century medical school dissecting rooms and anatomy museums, this book explores how collected human remains have shaped Western biomedical knowledge and attitudes towards the body.

To explore the role Australia played in the narrative of Western medical development, Pacitti focuses on how and why Australian anatomists and medical students obtained human body parts. As medical knowledge circulated between Australia and Britain, the colony’s physicians conformed to established specimen collecting practices and diverged from them to form a distinct medical identity. Interrogating how these literal and figurative bones of contention have left an indelible mark on the nation’s medical profession, collecting institutions, and communities, Pacitti sheds new light on our understanding of Western medical networks and reveals the opportunities and challenges historic specimen collections pose in the present day.

The Body Collected in Australia is a cultural history of collectors and collections that deepens our understanding of the ways the living have used the dead to comprehend the intricacies of the human body in illness and good health.

By: Eugenia Pacitti (Monash University USA)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 232mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 16mm
Weight: 360g
ISBN: 9781350373754
ISBN 10: 1350373753
Pages: 232
Publication Date: 30 October 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Dr Eugenia Pacitti is a historian of medicine based in Australia. She works in collection management, and her interests encompass specimen collection, medical education and professional networks in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Australia. She has a PhD in History from Monash University and her writing has appeared in Social History of Medicine and The Conversation.

Reviews for The Body Collected in Australia: A History of Human Specimens and the Circulation of Biomedical Knowledge

This is an impressive first book exploring the history of human specimens in Australian medical and cultural history. It presents extensive research in textual and material sources, such as the Melbourne Medical Museum, alongside the existing literature in this area. * Australian and New Zealand Society for the History of Medicine Book Prize *