Medicine And Magic In Elizabethan London: Simon Forman: Astrologer, Alchemist, And Physician Hardcover

Lauren Kassell

Simon Forman (1552-1611) is one of London's most infamous astrologers. He stood apart from the medical elite because he was not formally educated and because he represented, and boldly asserted, medical ideas that were antithetical to those held by most learned physicians. He survived the plague, was consulted thousands of times a year for medical and other questions, distilled strong waters made from beer, herbs, and sometimes chemical ingredients, pursued the philosopher's stone in experiments and ancient texts, and when he was fortunate spoke with angels. He wrote compulsively, documenting his life and protesting his expertise in thousands of pages of notes and treatises. This highly readable book provides the first full account of Forman's papers, makes sense of his notorious reputation, and vividly recovers the world of medicine and magic in Elizabethan London.

9780199279050

English

Oxford University Press, USA

16 Jun 2005

300

...fascinating...Kassell's engagement with this level of detail is praiseworthy and gives a real sense of Forman's experience. * History Workshop Journal, Issue 64 * [a] careful analysis * Times Literary Supplement * Kassell does make good on her promise to scrutinize Forman's manuscripts, recover his own voice, and firmly contextualize his writings and practices. She offers detailed accounts of the philosophy and practice of a medical astrologer * Mordechai Feingold, Huntington Library Quarterly * a delight to read... This is an exceptional study, absorbing and solidly grounded. * THES * this book offers new insights into the magical milieu and Elizabethan London. s Kassell's close study of Forman's writings, sensitivity to context, and wide familiarity with his sources and contemporaries has paid dividends with a rich sense of Forman's person and activities, and their relation to the world. * Nicholas Clulee, Renaissance Quarterly * the second, and best, book on Simon Forman to appear recently...its great strength is that it takes us through all the different aspects of Forman's work, providing many fascinating insights into the work...and the mind of an uneducated but remarkable thinker * John Henry, EHR, cxxi. 494 * The statistical analyses of Forman's patients Kassell draws from the manuscripts are very revealing and valuable, and among some of the most important and useful features of her book. * Lawrence M. Principe * Kassell has succeeded in transcending Forman's eccentricities and reconstructing an image of the astrologer-physician of Lambeth worthy of consideration alongside renowned contemporaries like John Dee and William Lilly * Celeste Chamberland, Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft *