Editing Matthias Buchinger (section)

==Biography==
Buchinger was born in [[Ansbach]], [[Germany]], without hands or legs, now considered to be [[Phocomelia]]. An artist and performer, he "traveled all over Northern Europe to entertain kings and aristocrats as well as [[hoi polloi]] with amazing feats of physical dexterity" and was known as “The Greatest German Living” and "Little Man from [[Nuremberg]]".<ref name = nyt>{{cite news| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/arts/design/astounding-feats-in-pen-ink-and-magnifying-glass.html | author= Ken Johnson | title = Astounding Feats in Pen, Ink and Magnifying Glass | work= The New York Times | date = January 14, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://thehumanmarvels.com/?p=22| author=J. T. Penaud| title=Human Marvels:Matthew Buchinger – The Little Man of Nuremberg | date=29 March 2006|accessdate=March 18, 2011}}</ref> He travelled to England trying to get a court appointment with [[George I of Great Britain|King George&nbsp;I]]; unsuccessful, he then moved to Ireland where he gave public demonstrations, in [[Dublin]] in 1720 and in [[Belfast]] in 1722. He also is rumored to have had children by as many as 70 mistresses.<ref name=holbrook/><ref name=jay>{{cite news |first=Ricky |last=Jay |author-link=Ricky Jay |title=Desperately Seeking Susan  |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/opinion/02jay.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 1, 2009  |accessdate=2009-06-03 }}</ref> Buchinger's fame was so widespread that in the 1780s the term "Buckinger's boot" existed in England as a euphemism for the [[vagina]] (because the only "limb" he had was his [[Human penis|penis]]).<ref name=grose>{{cite book | last=Grose | first=Francis | author-link=Francis Grose | title=The Vulgar Tongue | year=1785 | publisher=S. Hooper | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HoSAAAAIAAJ}}</ref> Buchinger died in [[Cork (city)|Cork]], Ireland.

[[Image:Lordsprayercurls.jpg|thumb|right|The detailed writing embedded in the engraving]]

Despite his having small, finlike appendages for hands, his engravings were incredibly detailed. One such engraving, a self-portrait, was so detailed that a close examination of the curls of his hair revealed that they were in fact seven biblical psalms and the [[Lord's Prayer]], inscribed in miniature letters.<ref name=holbrook>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Holbrook  |author-link=Holbrook Jackson|title=The Anatomy of Bibliomania |year=2001 |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |quote=Matthew Buchinger, who possessed neither hands nor legs, yet he married four times, ... the lines being composed of seven Psalms and the Lord's Prayer. ... | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7bCKiySFULUC |isbn=0-252-07043-7 }}</ref>

Buchinger was also an accomplished magician, causing balls to disappear from under cups and birds to appear from nowhere. It also was said that he was unbeatable at cards and would dazzle audiences with his amazing displays of [[marksmanship]]. Buchinger made (or mended) the oldest existing model in a bottle in 1719. It is a model of miners underground and can be seen in [[Snowshill Manor]] [https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1333094.1]. He had tremendous [[dexterity]], in spite of his disability.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kraven|first=Vlad|title=Time Travel Part 1: Matthew Buchinger|url=http://vladkraven.com/matthew-buchinger/|work=Magician|accessdate=26 April 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901170613/http://vladkraven.com/matthew-buchinger/|archivedate=1 September 2011}}</ref>

Buchinger's musical skills included the ability to play a half-dozen musical instruments including the [[dulcimer]], [[hautboy]], [[trumpet]], and [[flute]] and several of his own invention.<ref name=jay/>