Thomas’s Cork Leg

History

This device is inspired by the impressive artificial leg used by Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith in Edgar Allan Poe’s 1839 short story “The Man That Was Used Up”. Smith’s many prosthetic body parts (leg, arm, bosom, hair, eye, palate, hair, teeth, and shoulders) are shown to give him a strikingly impressive but slightly rigid appearance in Poe’s story. Smith’s leg, made by “Thomas” is described as “the ne plus ultra” (ultimate) leg. It was common for artificial limbs to be branded using their maker’s name in this period. For more on Poe’s portrayal of prostheses, see Ryan Sweet’s free 2022 book Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture.