Turningvort’s Cork Leg

History

The Turningvort cork leg is the prosthetic leg used by Mynheer Wodenblock (who also appears in this game) in Frances Parker’s illustrated 1832 narrative poem The Flying Burgermaster. In this poem, Wodenblock, a wealthy member of the European upper classes, loses a leg and purchases a false limb, which turns out to be so sophisticated that it literally walks its user to death. The poem reveals concerns about the ability of technologies to control their users. For more on this topic, see chapter 3 of Ryan Sweet’s free 2022 book Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture.