Last November we were joined by two fascinating lecturers discussing their recent research into recipe books from the early modern era in Scotland and France . You can now watch the lectures on our Youtube channel. 

Two Silk-Workers and their Remedies in Eighteenth-Century Lyon

Dr Lisa Smith, Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex and founding member of the Early Modern Recipes Online Collective

Marie Grand and Marie Fiansons were silk-workers, self-defined ‘chymists’ and herbalists, at the centre of healthcare and medicine in 18th century Lyon. Through an analysis of their recipe book and other documents Dr Smith explores women’s medical practices. Their story demonstrates the blurred boundaries between domestic medicine, charitable and paid medical care. The evidence from their recipe book, equipment inventory, and other papers reveal the breadth of the medical activities undertaken by women lower down the social scale. 

Attending to the Seasons in Early Modern Scotland

Finn Manders, current PhD researcher at UCL and Wellcome

From acquiring ‘cou dung… in the months of may or jun’ to waiting for fruit to be ‘at the full bignesse’, attention to the seasonal year was vital to the practice of everyday health and medicine in the 17th century. Using recipe books written by Scottish noblewomen, this talk brings seasonality into the picture of recipe-making knowledge, skill and expertise. In conversation with material from almanacs and account books, these recipe books highlight how women used their knowledge of the seasons to manage their homes and health in 17th-century Scotland.

Gail Chapman

Public programmes officer