The Sick Rose

The Sick Rose is a beautifully gruesome and strangely fascinating visual tour through disease in an age before colour photography. This stunning volume, combining detailed illustrations of afflicted patients from some of the world’s rarest medical books, forms an unforgettable and profoundly human reminder of mankind’s struggle with disease. Incorporating historic maps, pioneering charts and contemporary case notes, Richard Barnett’s evocative overview reveals the fears and obsessions of an era gripped by epidemics. • Historical objects from the Wellcome Collection, such as early stethoscopes and vaccination kits, are also featured, as well as additional caricatures, diagrams, paintings and maps. • A fascinating Wunderkammer of a book that balances social history and astonishing art. It will enthral artists, designers, historians, fans of Francis Bacon, lovers of Zola, readers of Dickens, reciters of Keats and the incurably curious everywhere.