Trusted sources
Trusted sources
The recipe books are repositories for household and familial knowledge. But where did the medical information they contain come from, if most people could neither afford to visit a doctor, nor read Latin medical textbooks?
While most books do not cite who wrote them, in most cases they did tell us the sources of the recipes they contain. A single book can cite multiple sources, which might include trusted friends, neighbours, relatives, local aristocracy, apothecaries, healers, and doctors.
Those who could afford the care of a doctor – mainly the aristocracy – recorded details of their treatments and passed that knowledge on. Doctors themselves endorsed treatments to be shared, and sometimes published their remedies. Often, doctors prescribed by letter rather than face-to-face, meaning their medicines were already written down and easy to copy.
The remedies recorded in the recipe books might be original or third hand, or they may have been updated and expanded from the original. As a result, the books often cite both the sources used, and the effectiveness of the remedy, either with a testimonial or simply: ‘probatum est’, or ‘it is proved’.
Remedy for the stone by Dr Mayerne
Highlights
MS500 Receipt book on cookery and remedies, 1700
The name ‘Dr Meyerne’ appears next to a recipe written in the first person, as if it has been copied from a letter or prescription written by the royal doctor Sir Theodore de Mayerne (1573–1655). It is a medicine for ‘chincough’ (whooping cough) in children and includes bloodletting, a common treatment designed to rebalance the humours in the body.
https://archive.org/details/ms-500-full
MS502 A collection of medical receipts and prescriptions, 1650
According to this recipe book, De Mayerne used an emulsion of ‘Syrrup of Althea’, a brown, fibrous husk taken from the marshmallow plant (Althea officinalis)to treat symptoms of bladder stones. The medicinal properties come from the mucilage, or sap-like substance, the plant produces. It contains antioxidants and forms a protective coating. This plant has been used for centuries to treat skin irritation and digestive issues.
https://archive.org/details/ms-502
MS534 Book of mostly medical recipes, 1686
Lady Sedley’s recipe book contains ‘the Soveraingn’st water that ever was devis’d by man which Dr. Stephens a Phisician of great Cuning & of Long experience did use’. The same recipe, with minor alterations, appears in another recipe book in this exhibition, MS447, written 20–40 years earlier.
https://archive.org/details/ms-534/page/n39/mode/2up
Further resources
Other recipe books mentioned in this section are:
MS507 A collection of medical and culinary recipes, 1650
https://archive.org/details/ms-507-full/page/n49/mode/2up
MS511a Papers relating to a book of culinary recipes and medical prescriptions, 1780
https://archive.org/details/ms-511a-full
MS688 Book of surgerie and phisick, 1601
https://archive.org/details/ms-688/page/n101/mode/2up
Digitised copies of all our recipe books are available online via the Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/rcplondonmanuscripts
Please be aware these books contain descriptions of animal cruelty and medical treatments administered to children.
