Book description
Joseph Carey Merrick, born in Leicester on 5th August 1852, is
better known as the Elephant Man.
Through horrible physical deformities which were almost impossible
to describe, he spent much of his life exhibited as a fairground
freak until even nineteenth-century sensibilities could take no more.
Hounded, persecuted and starving, he ended up one day at Liverpool
Street Station where he was rescued, housed and fed by the
distinguished surgeon Frederick Treves. To Treves' surprise, he
discovered during the course of their friendship that lurking
beneath the mass of Merrick's corrupting flesh lived a spirit that
was as courageous as it had been tortured, and a nature as gentle
and dignified as it had been deprived and tormented.
The subject of several books, a Broadway hit, and a film, Joseph
Merrick has become a part of popular mythology. Here, in this fully
revised edition containing much fresh information, are the true and
unromanticised facts of his life. An extraordinary and moving story,
set amongst the brutal realities of the Victorian world, telling of
a tragic individual and his survival against overwhelming odds.
Michael Howell, who lived in Dudley in the West Midlands, was
educated at Dudley Grammar School bfore he went on to study medicine
at the University of Birmingham. He qualified in 1954 and then, during
the course of his national service, became medical office in the 22nd
Battalion Grenadier Guards. After specializing in children's diseases
for a time, he made the decision in 1960 to go into general practice,
in which he continued until his death in 1986.
Peter Ford, who lives at Longhope in Orkney, served as a national
serviceman in the Royal Artillery in Malaya. He then worked in
publishing as an editor in London for twelve years before becoming a
freelance writer and editor, specializing in editorial consultancy and
co-authorship. He has written for collections and has an interest in
the history of popular entertainment. He wrote, with Max Wall, The
Fool on the Hill, the autobiography of the great comedian, and
Rings and Curtains: Family and Personal Memoirs, with the
veteran acrobat and actor, Jack Le White.
