The_Resurrectionist_The_Lost_Work_of_Dr

1888–1908
THE HUMAN RENAISSANCE
My lab is more than a cold table fashioned of wood
and metal; it is a heartbeat, a vessel, my home and temple.
—Spencer Black
In spite of this family tragedy, Black had reaffirmed his conviction in his work. His journal
reveals his feelings after parting company with Bernard, Samuel, and his hometown of
Philadelphia.
April 30, 1888
We are now traveling to Chicago; Elise is resting quietly. My brother and I are
at odds; our friendship, I fear, is irreconcilable. I had no opportunity to explain
myself as well as perhaps he would have required to merit compassion. There was
no opportunity, but how could I have? Would I discuss the minutia of the scientific
details pertaining to the complex structures of all that governs life and the
obedience required to deviate from it? Creating a new specimen? It would require a
millennium to explain and write it down. But all the while the creature lived––is
that not enough?
I cannot be still, I cannot rest or sleep. I won’t escape what I set out to do. My
work is more than a curiosity now. I knew nothing when I was young; I was far from
death, I couldn’t taste it on my teeth as I do now. I didn’t give enough thought to
what I was doing as a doctor or scientist. I am careful now; I have left whence I
came.
We have finally arrived. It is now morning. I am delighted at the stillness of the
tall grass in the fields and the quiet of the horses, stopped, steaming with heat and
unable to go anymore. Elise is still asleep; I won’t wake her, she had just begun to
rest. My beloved and eternally precious Elise––I could write that a thousand times
and not tire; how it pains me that of all the flowers to bloom this Spring, she is the
one I will not see.
Upon arriving in Chicago, Black began work on a new show, the Human Renaissance, that would
be a showcase for his living evidence. In 1890, after two years of development, Black unveiled the
show in Boston. Promotional handbills advertised “The Winged Woman” or “Angel Child,” “The
Snake Maiden,” “The Fire Demon,” and “Darwin’s Beagle,” a canine with functional wings grafted
onto its back.
Some speculated that the creatures were accidental mutations, optical illusions, or elaborately