Not of Woman Born: Representations of Caesarean Birth in Medieval and Renaissance Culture
by: Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski

Softcover. Ithaca NY, Cornell University Press, reprint, 1991, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 204 pages. "Not of woman born," "the Fortunate," "the Unborn" - the terms designating those born by Caesarean section in medieval and Renaissance Europe were mysterious and ambiguous. In antiquity, children fortunate enough to have survived a Caesarean birth were believed to be marked for a special destiny. Vividly tracing the evolution of Caesarean birth from the early 1300s (when the operation was performed almost exclusively by midwives) through the Renaissance period (when midwives were considered witches and male surgeons took control), Blumenfeld-Kosinski . . . does more than provide [an] engrossingly accessible, historical account of the now-commonplace procedure--she unveils the roots of a medical misogyny that still prevails today. A richly cross-disciplined study utilizing depictions of Caesarean delivery in art, literature, and medical texts and illuminations (illustrations), [this book] is a captivating and revealing work that will be relished by readers of medical and cultural history, as well as by those who are interested in the subject of male dominance over women. Clean copy.