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Title: The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities
Editors: Ann & Jeff Vandermeer
Publisher: New York : Harper Voyager, c2011
Call No.: English THA -[FN]

This volume is a collection of articles by Science Fiction and Fantasy authors such as Cherie Priest, Lev Grossman, China Mieville and Alan Moore. It is premised on the collection of a fictional doctor, Dr Thackery T. Lambshead (1900-2003). Dr Lambshead first made his appearance in an earlier anthology titled The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, 83rd Edition, edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Mark Roberts. That volume invited contemporary fantasy and sci-fi writers to exercise their artistic liberties with fictional ailments and conditions.

I really adore the Gothic feel of the cover, the cabinet with its intricate ornament and how the black background reminds me mildly of death and morbidity. There is also a tinge of Victorian flavour to this cover; which ties in with the largely Steampunk theme of the stories in the book. This volume contains articles on Dr. Lambshead’s collection of items in his lifetime, including the Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny, a robotic nanny that fully complies with the Victorian attitude of leaving child-rearing to the nanny. Within this volume are also tales of fantastical journeys undertaken by Dr. Lambshead.

The manner this book was written reminds me fondly of The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet, another book about a fictional character T. S. Spivet, written as though he were really alive.