Frankenstein Myth Busting! - *Warning! Contains spoilers!*

Last Chance! Spoilers Below!

Dissecting the Dead - True

In one grisly scene, Victor Frankenstein selects body parts from men about to be executed for his experiments. This is not so far from the truth. The Royal College of Physicians had a royal licence to dissect a number of corpses of executed criminals, including those hanged at Tyburn.

Other vulnerable members of society including poor people who couldn’t afford a burial and unclaimed bodies from hospitals were also dissected in anatomy schools.

A cartoon of an anatomy theatre similar to the Cutlerian theatre of the RCP, showing the dissection of fictional criminal, Tom Nero.

M0010169: The dissection of the body of Tom Nero, William Hogarth, 1751. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/x4b8ad72

Charter with elaborate heading and three round grey seals below.

Elizabeth I Charter for Anatomies, 1564/5 This charter gave the College the right to collect the bodies of four hanged criminals each year from Tyburn for anatomy lessons. MS4919

The “Fifth Evelyn table” – Partly true

Table with the preserved dissected venous or nervous system of a human male. The dissection appears as black lines in the shape of a human body attached to a wooden board. — Male nervous system, X21

In a major plot point, Frankenstein unlocks the secrets of life through the mysterious “Fifth Evelyn Table”.

While there are only four anatomical tables that belonged to the 17^th century writer John Evelyn (on display at the Hunterian Museum) did you know that six more anatomical tables do survive at the Royal College of Physicians?

Prepared at the University of Padua and brought to England by physician John Finch, these panels contain preserved human veins and arteries.

Do the RCP’s tables contain the secrets of life itself? Who’s to say! Visit them on public display on the 2nd floor.

Attempting to reanimate corpses - True (sort of)

Giovanni Aldini, nephew of Luigi Galvani (electricity pioneer), performed a public experiment on the corpse of George Forster in London, applying electric currents causing his jaw to twitch, an eye to open, and a hand to clench.

These galvanic experiments shocked audiences, allegedly scaring to death the Royal College of Surgeons’ Bedell. The Frankenstein author, Mary Shelley was inspired by these contemporary scientific ideas of natural philosophy, and by the medical professionals that she knew.

Oval portrait of a man in dark clothing with a white cravat.

Giovanni Aldini, by L. Schiavonetti, after P. Violet, PR50

A cylindrical dark red leather case, above three rod in different metal with a tapering end and a rounded end, all three pointing at a metal collar.

Galvanic tractors – c. 1798-1808 used for medical purposes, claimed as a cure all for everything from blindness to dysentery.

Frankenstein’s medical education – True

Victor Frankenstein’s studies weren’t fantasy. In the film he is schooled in anatomy and the ancient medical theory of the four humours. These are all genuine medicine and philosophy of the time. De Motu Cordis (on the circulation of blood) by RCP physician William Harvey, also gets a very brief mention!

Series of images showing an arm holding a stick. Various points are labelled and another hand points out blood vessels.

Illustrations from 'Du Motu Cordis' by William Harvey, CN22888

Illustration showing the head and shoulders of a person, dissected to show nerves, veins and the heart.

Cardiac Nerves from Tabulae neurologicae, dissection by Antonio Scarpa, engraving by Faustino Anderloni, Padua 1794 (CN 22208, Photography by Mike Fear)

Guillermo del Toro’s fantastical world was inspired by medical collections such as those he visited at the Royal College of Surgeons. If he’s ever back in London, we’d love to invite him to explore the collections of the RCP.

Elizabeth Douglas

Senior Curator

Last Chance! Spoilers Below!

Dissecting the Dead - True

The “Fifth Evelyn table” – Partly true

Attempting to reanimate corpses - True (sort of)

Frankenstein’s medical education – True

Library, Archive and Museum

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