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Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius

Author: Colin Dickey
Publisher: Unbridled Books
$25.95 Cloth (308 P.)
ISBN: 9781932961867
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Reviewed by Marcia A. Lusted, Statusing

The idea of collecting the skulls of people who were celebrities in life may seem repugnant to us today, but at one time it was considered to be a mark of honor and the key to understanding the science of what makes us who we are. Did Haydn’s skull, or Mozart’s, or Swedenborg’s contain clues as to why they were the geniuses they were?

In his book Cranioklepty, Colin Dickey explains the history of cranioklepty, -- or the stealing or skulls --throughout history. Not only were the skulls of the famous stolen for their collectability, but also to further the science of phrenology, which claimed to be able to identify in the shape of a skull that which made the owner intelligent, musical, or literary, among other attributes. While science has since moved on, phrenology enjoyed a huge following at the height of its popularity, and many phrenologists boasted huge collections of skulls.

But Cranioklepty is not just about the why of collecting skulls. It also delves into the how: grave-robbing in the dead of night, how fresh skulls were stripped and cleaned, and even the lengths that some people went to in order to protect the remains of the famous and unknown alike from the lucrative trade of grave-robbing. It is not a book for the sensitive stomach, but it is fascinating to see how the trade in illegally-harvested skulls was conducted, even among the most upright of men.

Cranioklepty reads in part like a true-crime detective novel, including the forensic analysis conducted on some of these skulls in modern times to determine the authenticity of skulls that were said to belong to famous men. It is also a fascinating look at history and the evolution of medicine and science; and while very few people would care to display the skulls of a famous person in their living room today, after reading this book, it is easier to see why this combination of reverence and science was accepted and even celebrated for so long.