[“He and his companions proceeded to lift the corpse out of the coffin.”] — illustration for G. W. M. Reynolds’s “The Mysteries of London” by G. Stiff

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He and his companions proceeded to lift the corpse out of the coffin.

G. Stiff

c. 1843

Wood engraving

Source: The Hathi Trust version of G. W. M. Reynolds’s The Mysteries of London 1.121

The illustration, which depicts a passage in Chapter 44, appears a chapter earlier.

Click on image to enlarge it and see passage illustrated below,

The two men drew the corpse gently out of its coffin

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit Project Gutenberg and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. — George P. Landow]

Passage illustrated

The Resurrection Man took a chisel and opened the lid with considerable care. He then lighted his candle a second time; and the glare fell upon the pale features of the corpse in its narrow shell.

"This is the right one," said the surgeon, casting a hasty glance upon the face of the dead body, which was that of a young girl of about sixteen.

The Resurrection Man extinguished the light; and he and his companions proceeded to lift the corpse out of the coffin.

The polished marble limbs of the deceased were rudely grasped by the sacrilegious hands of the body-snatchers; and, having stripped the corpse stark naked, they tied its neck and heels together by means of a strong cord. They then thrust it into a large sack made for the purpose.

The body-snatchers then applied themselves to the restoration of the vault to its original appearance.

The lid of the coffin was carefully fastened down; and that now tenantless bed was lowered into the tomb. The stone was rolled over the mouth of the vault; and one of the small square boxes previously alluded to, furnished mortar wherewith to fill up the joints. The Resurrection Man lighted his candle a third time, and applied the cement in such a way that even the very workman who laid the stone down after the funeral would not have known that it had been disturbed. Then, as this mortar was a shade fresher and lighter than that originally used, the Resurrection Man scattered over it a thin brown powder, which was furnished by the second box brought away from his house on this occasion. Lastly, a light brush was swept over the scene of these operations, and the necessary precautions were complete.

The clock struck three as the surgeon and the body-snatchers issued from the church, carrying the sack containing the corpse between them. — Chapter 44, “The Body-Snatchers” [1.127]

Bibliography

Reynolds, George W. M. The Mysteries of London. vol 1. London: George Vickers, 1846. Hathi Trust Digital Library. Web. 6 October 2016.

Last modified 6 October 2016