The Journal of Plastination: The Second Decade

Abstract

At the 19th International Conference of the ISP in 2018, in Dalian, the history of the first ten years of The Journal of Plastination was presented, from the publication in 1987 of Volume 1, Issue 1 of what was then called ‘The Journal of the International Society of Plastination’, up until Volume 12 Issue 2 in 1997. In this article, those early years are summarized, before discussing the development of the journal and the leading figures involved with it over the following decade. The second decade culminated in the publication of the plastinators’ ‘bible’ in 2007, the eighty-page, single-issue Volume 22 “cookbook” which gave detailed instructions for plastination with all the available methods (Biodur, North Carolina, Dow/Corcoran, VisDocta, and Hoffen), for silicone (cold-temperature and room-temperature), epoxy, and polyester plastination. The Editor from 1987-2000 was Gilles Grondin; Bob Henry was Interim Editor for Volume 16 (2001), a single issue which was dedicated to the memory of Dr Harmon Bickley; Robert Reed Jr took over as Editor from 2002. During this decade, the journal continued to develop and thrive, with a glossy cover complete with a colored photograph, and improved print and image quality, including colored images, inside. The decade ended in spectacular style, with the front cover of Volume 22 (2007) bearing a striking photograph of Gunther von Hagens’ plastinated ‘Rearing Horse with Rider’.