author
Thomas Inman
1820–1876
A Victorian doctor with unusually wide interests, he wrote both practical medical works and a provocative study of symbols, myth, and religion. His books move from everyday health and disease to the hidden meanings he believed were buried in ancient traditions.
2 Audiobooks
Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism With an Essay on Baal Worship, on the Assyrian Sacred "Grove," and Other Allied Symbols
by Thomas Inman, M.R.C.S.E. John Newton
About the author
Born in Leicester on January 27, 1820, he trained in medicine and went on to work in Liverpool, including service as house-surgeon at the Liverpool Royal Infirmary. Alongside his medical career, he published a steady stream of books and papers on subjects such as inflammation, hygiene, and what he called the restoration of health.
He is especially remembered today for the unusual breadth of his writing. In addition to medical texts, he became an amateur mythologist and explored religious symbols, legends, and ancient worship practices in works such as Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism. That mix of clinical observation and speculative historical thinking gives his work a distinctive Victorian character.
Inman died on May 3, 1876. For modern listeners, he is an intriguing figure because he stands at the meeting point of nineteenth-century medicine, popular scholarship, and bold, sometimes controversial curiosity about the origins of belief.