ABSTRACT
The abandoning of unwanted babies has a long history. In some societies, where new-born babies were left exposed in forests, on hillsides or in open fields, the practice was the virtual equivalent of infanticide. Death was intended and death was almost always achieved; Oedipus survived, but his was an exceptional case. In early-modern Europe, however, it was more usual for abandonment to be chosen as an alternative to outright infanticide, especially in urban areas. Since infanticide was a relatively sensational act, regarded by many as shocking and ‘unnatural’, and by others as a sad reflection on both the callousness of seducers and the rigours of the criminal law, it received considerable attention and publicity from essayists, social critics, literary figures and the compilers of newspapers. The relevant medical writings, which focus on the forensic problems associated with infanticide, date mostly from the early nineteenth century.
