The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black

Really cool book if you like to have scientific type texts that are also entertaining. I love the art work within and it has a cool little story.

The media could not be loaded. I'm giving this a 5 star review because the book itself is definitely a work of art. The content, the drawings, the descriptions with details it's all amazing. But if I was to judge Amazon shipping I'd give it a negative star review. The book came in a box with the rest of my order. No protection, no covering, NOTHING, and the corners are damaged. Which is pretty upsetting because I'm paying for a brand new product and it's coming in damaged. I totally understand Amazon not wanting to use plastic to help recycle and all that but at the very least a paper or thin cardboard cover for the book would have made a difference. I'm not going to return it to order a new one because I know it'll come exactly the same. But this isn't the first time I've received damaged brand new books from Amazon, I'll have to start buying my books elsewhere even if I have to pay more for them.

Great coffee table book

This is such a fun book. Illustrations are well thought out and will be a great coffee table book. However, it did arrive with the bottom 2 corners of the cover bent and damaged.

The Resurrectionist by E.B. Hudspeth I came across on Amazon through one of their routine mailings, it may have been their first read program but I no longer remember. I finally got to finish this two part book and was very impressed. The first part is a fictional biography of a doctor who falls from grace after he becomes obsessed with cryptids and trying to prove that they once existed and even interbred with humanity in some cases. The second part of the book is his detailed anthropological bestiary.I have to applaud the author. The biography is engaging and believable. We get to ride along as the madness takes over Dr Black’s life and experience the havoc it causes in his family. I found it exceptionally poignant that he experiences the loss of his wife twice and the lengths he went to in attempting to save her each time. We are left with the revelation that one of his children is crazed as well and that the bestiary and notes may or may not have fallen into his offspring’s hands despite his terror of what may happen if that were to happen. If they do a second book and follow that young man I would be just as interested to read that as well.The second part of the book was also well done. I read this on my phone but to really appreciate the level of the bone and muscle studies I will have to open it again on either my kindle, a tablet, or my laptop itself. I debate hooking up to one of the TVs to REALLY get a good close view of the little details. I may do so and confuse the kids as to what I am actually up to. It is not an extensive bestiary but it does cover mermaids, satyrs, harpies, and a few other such creatures. Anyone that is a fan of cryptids, anatomy, or taxidermy will likely find this section fascinating.I highly recommend this book, especially to those like myself who love cryptids and the possibility of other species mingling unknown with our own. Those that enjoy the Skin Deep Comic may also find this interesting.

"The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black" opens with a dense, interesting narrative: the biography of the dark protagonist. Readers tend to get bored with extended narratives, so this introduction is appropriately short. It is a compelling setup, of course, for the illustrations (the latter 2/3rds of book). The author sets the horrific tenor here, enticing the reader to share the excitement that Spencer feels for defining the human condition. Only sensitive readers will cringe at the horror since author E.B. Hudspeth is tactful in his delivery of the macabre. He, like his character Spencer, merely wants to set the readers "free." True to the role of speculative fiction, he presents art that appears real...then lets the reader ponder the boundary between fact/fiction. The below quote from Spencer seems to echo Hudspeth's motivation:"I hear them marvel at my work--my indignant science. I hear them call out in fear of what they see. And there are some gentlemen who doubt what I will tell them. They call me a liar and a charlatan or a quack. But in time the methods of science that I now employ to convince people will surely set them free--alas, this I cannot explain to the angry fools."The setting is ideal for redefining the nature of "man." The turn of the 19th century was rich with advances in evolutionary theory, science, and even speculative fiction. Anatomists, philosophers, and scientists ruminated on how far to extrapolate Darwin's assertions. Most understood that all vertebrates shared a common skeletal structure; but if animals and man were connected in their development, was it not reasonable to reconsider the existence of creatures termed mythological? Were centaurs real? Harpies? Demons? Spencer Black needed to know. Hudspeth uses him to lure us on this quest.There are real life analogues to the fictitious Spencer. Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) comes to mind. A dedicated, philosophical scientist with outstanding artistic skills, he documented thousands of life forms and published his beautiful plates in "Art Forms in Nature" (translated from German: Kunstforman der Natur). But then his fascination with Art-Nature caused an uproar when he tweaked his drawings of embryos in 1874. Haeckel envisioned familiarities across the embryos of fish, salamanders, turtles, pigs, rabbits, and humans; then he represented these in an evocative table. At a time when photography was not practiced, data was art...and vice versa. Some still claim his drawings were legitimate, but in any case, his artistic embellishments stirred a controversy. That controversy is the same the Hudspeth delivers:At what point does "man" begin and "animal" end?The fictional Spencer Black is more corrupt than the real Ernest Haeckel, but now their books share space on my bookshelf. I recommend the hardcopy so you can use it as coffee table book. The anatomical drawings of mythological creatures will certainly entertain and inspire.

Read the story of the book, but initially got it to act as a reference for the anatomy of various creatures. Great asset to have