This three-volume set brings together a range of documents that allows researchers to explore the nineteenth-century vivisection controversy, its relation to the prominent animal welfare movement and the specific role of women within the movement.
The collection maps the battle over the meaning of animals in Victorian culture, from utility to companionship, showing the range of political, rhetorical and representational strategies that were deployed as physiology and anti-vivisection struggled to assert the 'truth' of animal bodies.
The volumes include press articles by key pro- and anti-vivisectionist activists in the established press, Victorian government materials, scientific papers and illustrations, and the pamphlets and journals of the anti-vivisectionist movements.
Recent collections in this series include Josephine Butler and the Prostitution Campaigns (March 2003, 5 volumes, £495) and Women, Madness and Spiritualism (June 2003, 2 volumes, £250). Forthcoming titles include Women and Cross Dressing 1800-1939 (2005, 3 volumes, c. £325) and Feminism and the Periodical Press 1900-1918 (2005, 3 volumes, c. £325).