Thomas Shapter
Published: 1849
Total Pages: 368
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"Shapter's history of Exeter's 1832 cholera epidemic -- part of the worldwide cholera pandemic of 1829-51 -- includes his 'Map of Exeter in 1832 shewing the localities where the deaths caused by pestilential cholera occurred in the years 1832, 1833 & 1834', one of the first examples of an epidemic 'spot map.' 'Shapter's text and map presented a 'topography of disease' in which the incidence of cholera over three years was considered within the city of Exeter. Shapter recorded both mortality and morbidity across the outbreak in a chart of epidemic occurrence. He then used official mortality reports that included decedents' street addresses to locate cholera mortality in a map of the city. A mortality ratio based on parish population was recorded in the map legend. This amounted to a spatial description of mortality data . . . mapped clusters of cholera appearing to occur more frequently in parishes along the low-lying riverbanks of the city . . . than at higher altitude away from the river where air was purer' (Koch, Disease Maps: Epidemics on the Ground, p. 156). Shapter's map, which did not mark wells or pump locations, appeared to confirm his theory that cholera was a miasmatic disease caused by 'bad air.' John Snow, whose On the Pathology and Mode of Communication of the Cholera appeared the same year as Shapter's work, interpreted Shapter's data differently, using it to help demonstrate the link between disease outbreaks and contaminated water sources."--Antiquarian bookseller's description, 2017.
