The Layton Collection

THE THOMAS LAYTON TRUST & LAYTON'S COLLECTION

Anthropometamorphosis : man transform’d or, The artificial changling

In this curious work on comparative cultural anthropology, English physician Bulwer, best known for his work on communicating with the deaf via gestures; casts his eye towards lands both exotic and familiar, discussing subjects as diverse as women’s maladies, eunuchs and breast feeding, together with all manner of rites for decorating and transforming the human body. Presented here in abundant woodcut illustrations are tattooing, scarring, binding, growing of the fingernails and piercings of all kinds.

John Bulwer, 1653. Layton Collection 16573

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The Collection

Thomas Layton collected books, coins, and archaeological items (usually described as ‘antiquities’) for 70 years. In that time he had accumulated what has been described as “probably the largest collection of London antiquities ever amassed by a single individual”.

The vast majority of items are believed to have been bought at auctions. Some came to him from his men working on the river. His businesses provided opportunities for finds from dredging, building of bridges and embankments along the banks of the Thames, for which Layton paid good money. Even by the standards of the day Layton kept poor records of where items were found. Despite this, the collection is considered highly important particularly to archaeologists and pre-historians.