Secrets of the 17th Century Medicine Cabinet

What was medicine like in the time of Shakespeare and Oliver Cromwell? How did Charles I cure a headache, or Samuel Pepys get rid of kidney stones? Katherine Knight opens up the delights of the Stuart medicine cabinet in this fascinating romp through seventeenth-century medicine and cosmetics. Documenting the all-important use of household substances and do-it-yourself remedies, this book looks at the emergence of modern medicine from everyday cures such as herbs, oils and foods. Offering solutions for all sorts of nasty afflictions, from digestive disturbances to sexually transmitted diseases, it also describes how our seventeenth-century counterparts enjoyed the benefits of soap, moisturiser and toothpaste. With insights into the lives of those who lived in this remarkable period, Secrets of the 17th Century Medicine Cabinet is more than a medical history - it is an intimate investigation into the private lives of the spirited Stuarts.

Katherine Knight trained as a teacher of home economics before bringing up her four children. She ran the poetry writing club at the City Lit, Holborn for many years and has now transferred the history of cooking to the history of domestic medicine. She is the author of The Mother and Daughter Cookbook and The Cookery Book Club. She lives in Strawberry Hill.