Anatomical Things at the Juncture of Commerce and Science in the Late Ottoman Empire

Abstract

The Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şahane (the Imperial School of Medicine) has long held a privileged place in the literature on late Ottoman medicine due to its being a landmark institution embodying the nineteenth-century Ottoman state’s commitment to modernizing medical education and public health services. Despite the extensive scholarly attention devoted to the school, its academic stuff, and its facilities, however, there are still many gaps in our knowledge about this important institution. The current article seeks to fill one such gap by focusing on the Mekteb-i Tıbbiye anatomy museum (fenn-i teşrih numunehanesi) and, as a necessary extension, on the dissecting room, with the aim of casting light on the anatomical teaching aids purchased for or donated to the school, ranging from cadavers and teratological specimens to the detachable anatomical models of Auzoux and the anatomical preparations by Hyrtl. Inspired by and aiming to contribute to studies on the material culture of medicine, I investigate the ways in which these anatomical artifacts, specimens, and cadavers traveled and were traded as gifts and commodities across and within the borders of the Ottoman Empire. Such an investigation will reveal a variety of actors with different stakes involved in the procurement, collection, and acquisition processes. It will also demonstrate how economic incentives and personal connections beyond, or in parallel to, scientific missions spurred the transfer of anatomical objects and specimens from their site of origin to institutional and private collections.

Keywords

• Nineteenth-century Ottoman medicine
• Mekteb-i Tıbbiye anatomy museum
• anatomical artifacts and teratological specimens
• dissection
• Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux
• Josef Hyrtl