the real two-face: the bizaare tale of Edward Mordrake

dear readers,

In roman Mythology, there was an god named Janus who was the god of doorways and could see into the past and the future, hence why he has two faces, the month of January was named for him and the expression being two faced is supposely an reference to him, but what if i were to tell you that there really was an person who had two faces? as freaky as that sounds, its supposely true

In 1896, an Medical book was published called  Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine. the book contained tons of strange and bizarre birth defects and deformity, the strangest beign the case of
 Edward Mordrake. this is an excerpt from that book


"One of the weirdest as well as most melancholy stories of human deformity is that of Edward Mordake, said to have been heir to one of the noblest peerages in England. He never claimed the title, however, and committed suicide in his twenty-third year. He lived in complete seclusion, refusing the visits even of the members of his own family. He was a young man of fine attainments, a profound scholar, and a musician of rare ability. His figure was remarkable for its grace, and his face — that is to say, his natural face — was that of an Antinous. But upon the back of his head was another face, that of a beautiful girl, 'lovely as a dream, hideous as a devil'. The female face was a mere mask, 'occupying only a small portion of the posterior part of the skull, yet exhibiting every sign of intelligence, of a malignant sort, however'. It would be been seen to smile and sneer while Mordake was weeping. The eyes would follow the movements of the spectator, and the lips 'would gibber without ceasing'. No voice was audible, but Mordake avers that he was kept from his rest at night by the hateful whispers of his 'devil twin', as he called it, 'which never sleeps, but talks to me forever of such things as they only speak of in Hell. No imagination can conceive the dreadful temptations it sets before me. For some unforgiven wickedness of my forefathers I am knit to this fiend — for a fiend it surely is. I beg and beseech you to crush it out of human semblance, even if I die for it.' Such were the words of the hapless Mordake to Manvers and Treadwell, his physicians. In spite of careful watching, he managed to procure poison, whereof he died, leaving a letter requesting that the 'demon face' might be destroyed before his burial, 'lest it continues its dreadful whisperings in my grave.' At his own request he was interred in a waste place, without stone or legend to mark his grave."


there has an been an debate for decades about the validity of the story, very little evidence exists but one supposedly photo  but the story gained an foothold in the public mind and was made into plays and retolded countless times and even made into songs, most famously by Tom Waits , whose song Poor Edward is an reference to Edward Mordrake. doctors and scientists have dismissed as an urban legend or folklore until the story of  Chang Tzu Ping  become world famous. Ping was born in China with an simailar condtion expect on the side of his face ,Chang had been born with a second face consisting of a mouth, a malformed tongue, several teeth, a patch of scalp, and the vestige of other facial constructs. The throat and the lips of the second face could not move independently, but the mouth did react in tandem to Chang opening his. Shortly after being discovered he was brought to the United States to have the second face surgically removed. unlike Mordrake, there was considerable more evidence of his existence including photos and examination by doctors.


finishing thoughts

what are we to make of this? is the story of Edward Mordrake, truth or fiction. as we see with the case of Chang tzu Ping, its very possible to be born with such an birth defecit, and while I doubt it talekd to hin, that strikes me more as an form of mental illiness, i can beleive he was born with two faces. maybe its based on an real story that got twisted in retelling, the world may never know,


love and peace,


Alex  "For Terra!" Stallwitz