Join us to explore what the incredible resource of historic recipe books from across England, Scotland and France can reveal about medical practice from 1500 -1800 through recent research and practical recreation.

Healing words – introduction and demonstration

Recipe books were highly collaborative, incredibly detailed, and painstakingly handwritten household manuals. Current RCP Museum exhibition Healing words explores the unofficial story of medical practice,1500-1800, in England through the RCP’s collection of recipe books. The evening will include an introduction to the exhibition and practical demonstrations of recreation of recipes from those books.

Speakers

We are delighted to welcome current researchers Finn Manders and Dr Lisa Smith as expert speakers for the evening.

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.

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.

Schedule

• 6pm – Introduction to Healing words

• 6.30pm – Attending to the seasons in Early Modern Scotland with Finn Manders

• 7pm – Refreshments and drop-in practical demonstrations, time to explore the exhibition

• 7.30pm – Two silk-workers and their remedies in 18th century Lyon with Dr Lisa Smith

• 8pm end