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The author who made a living measuring the legs of lice

16 May 2020

9:00 AM

16 May 2020

9:00 AM

110. W.N.P. Barbellion – The Journal of a Disappointed Man

Backlisted.fm

Love Divided: On the Record

Media.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Wilhelm Nero Pilate Barbellion, real name Bruce Frederick Cummings, earned his living measuring the legs of lice in the Natural History Museum. ‘To the lay mind how fantastic this must seem!’ he exclaimed in his journal, before enumerating his enthusiasms for Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy, names like ‘Mr. Hogsflesh’ and ‘Pickle Herring Street’, and Petticoat Lane on Sunday mornings.

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