English medicine and cookery, 1600? [manuscript].
1500
Items
Details
Title
English medicine and cookery, 1600? [manuscript].
Created/published
England, circa 1500s - 1600s.
Description
1 volume ; 19 x 15 cm
Associated name
Thayer, Johannes, 1570-1620, associated name.
Note
This is a PRELIMINARY RECORD. It may contain incorrect information. Please email catalog@folger.edu for assistance.
Genre/form
Manuscripts (documents)
Cookbooks.
Cookbooks.
Place of creation/publication
Great Britain -- England.
Item Details
Call number
V.a.704
Folger-specific note
From dealer's description: "19cm x 14.5cm. 1 p.l., [1]-57, 59-130, 132-134, 134-223, [21 - blank], [3], [33 - blank], [3], [2 - blank], [6], [1 - blank], [2], [1 - blank] pp. Contemporary calf, triple blind fillet around sides, spine in five compartments, double blind fillet on spine, head of spine worn, corners bumped, binding rubbed overall with some abrasion on the lower board, binding a bit dry, some signatures loose, some soiling to the recto of the first leaf, some dampstaining on the lower signatures. A wonderfully early English manuscript of mostly medicinal recipes, but all made from various foodstuffs, written in a secretary hand and bound in a contemporary binding. A manuscript such as this provides a rare view into how people cared for themselves and others during Elizabethan England, a time when professional physicians were neither numerous nor necessarily reliable. A well-run household would maintain a collection of cures and ingredients for potential health concerns, or crisis, as well as those specific to the needs of the household. In the case of the collection of remedies here, there are very few for women or children, and quite a large number of directions for treating ones eyes. There are two recipes for deafness; one for gout; one for piles; two for stones; and one for memory loss. Perhaps the author was middle-aged or older? There are also a number of treatments for injuries typical to the countryside: a broken leg or arm; a backache; a broken shin; nose bleeds; corns; and wounds. One recipe (for cramp), begins “Betweene the two ladie days in harvest get a long white snale...” (page 39). Another is to treat a horse that has a cold. On the recto of the first leaf is written “John Thayer. Johannes Thayer his Booke. Johannes Thayer” surrounded by numerous experiments on writing out different letters. The date is a bit difficult to assign with certainty. This paper was used for a manuscript catalogued at the Folger Library. That manuscript is dated “c.1618.” So, the paper was certainly available before c.1618, although how much before is not clear. The hand in the current manuscript looks to be earlier (c.1570-80). One argument to support an earlier date is that, although there are many John Thayers in the 16th and 17th centuries, we have been able to find only one who was known for signing his name as “ Johannes Thayer.” He was born in 1531 and died in 1584, having spent his life in Thornbury, Gloucestershire. If this is our Thayer, then the estimated date of c.1570-80 would be accurate. There is also a recipe that mentions “Doctor Turner” (page 5); this may be Dr. William Turner (1510-69), the author of herbals and works on medicine. There is also a John Thayer (or Theyer, 1598-1673), who also lived in Gloucestershire and was one of the most important book collectors of his age. He owned over 330 medieval manuscripts, of which 312 were bought by Charles II and remain in the Royal Collection of manuscripts in the British Library.Below is a selection of some of the remedies that are described. While several are for emergencies, many are for what we would today call preventative medicine and dietetics. There is also one recipe for breast cancer (the only recipe we have identified that is specific to women’s health). The author also had at least some knowledge of Latin, writing “Ad hominis fluxum exhibendum” (page 104) and “Ad capiendum pisces” (on an unpaginated leaf). There are also two recipes on breaking wind (pages 34 & 114)." Ordered from: Ben Kinmont D 9270, 2018-12-19, email quote.
Folger accession
270805