Mummies in Nineteenth Century America

S.J. Wolfe is a senior cataloger and serials specialist at the American Antiquarian Society. Over the past 20 years, she has been lecturing on ancient Egyptian culture and presenting mummy research. She lives in Worcester, Massachusetts. Robert Singerman is the emeritus Jewish studies bibliographer at University of Florida Libraries, Gainesville. He lives in Gainesville, Florida.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments      Foreword by Bob Brier      Preface      1. “An Appropriate Ornament of the Operating Room”: Padihershef and the Beginnings of Mummymania in Nineteenth-Century America      2. “As Cheap as Candidates for the Presidency”: Egyptian Mummies in Early Nineteenth-Century America      3. “An Exceedingly Dry Company”: Exhibiting Egyptian Mummies in Nineteenth-Century America      4. “The Leg of Pharaoh’s Daughter, the One Who Saved Moses”: Egyptian Mummies in the Mormon World      5. Unholy Unrollers: “Scientific” Interest in Egyptian Mummies in Nineteenth-Century America      6. “Better Than Stealing Pennies from the Eyes of Dead Men”: Commercial Exploitation of Mummies in Victorian America      7. “No Stiff Has Ever Gone Over This Road Without a Death Certificate”: Egyptian Mummies and the American Public      Appendices1. Catalogue of Pre-1901 References to Mummies in America Not Mentioned in the Text      2. Suggestions for Further Reading      3. Notes on the Coffins of the First Mummies Brought to America      4. Spreading the News      Chapter Notes      Bibliography      Index

“Remarkable...a delightful read...a priceless resource”—Fortean Times