Most portrayals of astrologers at work are satirical. This project takes seriously the encounters between the astrologer and his clients. ‘Credulous lady & astrologer’, a colour stipple-engraving by Pierre Simon after John Raphael Smith, c. 1800. Wellcome Library, London
What is my disease? Am I pregnant? Will I die? These are the sorts of questions that thousands of people asked Simon Forman and Richard Napier, two of the most popular astrologers in early modern England. Through four busy decades, Forman and Napier recorded approximately 85,000 consultations. Their casebooks are probably the richest surviving records of medical practice before 1700. They provide a unique view of the lives of ordinary — and extraordinary — people four centuries ago.
Our freely available electronic edition combines sophisticated editorial expertise and cutting-edge digital humanities to make these records accessible as never before, allowing you to browse and search the casebooks.
Announcements
Workshop announcement
Notebooks in Medicine and the Sciences in Early Modern Europe
12-13 July 2013 — Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
This is the inaugural event in establishing the Notebooks Network, a new research initiative to bring together scholars working on paper technologies, especially, but not exclusively, in the early modern period and with a focus on medicine and the sciences. See http://notebooks.hypotheses.org/ for more details about the Notebooks Network and the July 2013 workshop.
Organised by Lauren Kassell (ltk21@cam.ac.uk) and Elaine Leong (eleong@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de)
Release 5: person pages and images of MS Ashmole 195, 219 and 226
This site now includes ‘Person pages’ which link Forman’s clients/patients across the casebooks. Person pages are accessed through the browse and search pages. Images of four of Forman’s volumes (MS Ashmole 234, 195, 219, 226) are now available on the case details pages (also reached through the browse and search pages). More features for working with Forman’s records, and Richard Napier’s casebooks for 1597-1603, will follow soon.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography have kindly offered to allow users of the Casebooks Project website free access to their entries on the two astrologers. The links can be found at the end of our own introductions to Forman and Napier.
Document last modified: 29 April 2013
Cite this as: "Welcome | Casebooks Project", Casebooks Project (http://www.magicandmedicine.hps.cam.ac.uk/)
