Anthropomorphic Victorian Taxidermist Walter Potter Very Spectacularly in the News!

[Morbid Anatomy]

As readers of this blog will already know, I have something of "a thing" for Walter Potter, a self-taught Victorian taxidermist of no great expertise best remembered for his quirky tableaux peopled by tea-drinking kittens, arithmetic-doing rabbits, and cigar smoking squirrels. His collection was on view for nearly 150 years before being divided at auction ten years ago this month. The man and his collection have just been commemorated in Walter Potter's Curious World of Taxidermy, a new book by Dr. Pat Morris with Morbid Anatomy's Joanna Ebenstein and an introduction by legendary pop artist Sir Peter Blake.

The last few days has found Mr. Potter, to my great pleasure, very much in the news. Yesterday's Guardian ran an epic photo essay with brilliant captions (click here to view) while The Midnight Archive's Ronni Thomas had this piece published in yesterdays Huffington Post. It seems the world is finally ready for Potter!

If you are interested in a purchasing a copy of the book--which is cloth bound, 128 page, and contains over 100 full color images including those you see above--click here (for UK orders) or here (for those in the US); International buyers please email morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com.

We  have also just launched a website to go with the book, featuring a blog with guest posts by a variety of Potter enthusiasts; click here to check it out. If you would like to contribute a post, please emailwalterpottertaxidermy [at] gmail.com.

All above images are my own except for top image, by Alan Kolc.