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Broadside concerning the riot outside Dr. Robert Knox?s house, Edinburgh over Burke and Hare
This report begins: ‘A Full and Particular Account of the Riot which took place in Edinburgh on Thursday last ; also of the Hoax played off on a Celebrated Doctor.’
The broadside tells of the riot that took place in Edinburgh on 12 February 1829, when a mob marched to the house of Dr. Robert Knox and demanded justice. Although Dr. Knox was the eminent anatomist who bought corpses at £10 a time from the infamous body-snatchers, Burke and Hare, he was never prosecuted. His career, however, was effectively destroyed. It appears from this riot that the public considered him to be an accomplice – hence the stones thrown at his house. This broadside contains a darkly humorous sting in the tale, as it concludes with a funny story concerning how a local anatomist was persuaded to buy a dead sow to help advance his studies. for more click here
