Following on from the tiny phrenology book and White’s Ephemeris I’ve become slightly obsessed with odd shaped books and almanacs. William Parsons Chronological tables of Europe is like a small flip notebook, bound at the top. It has one page for each century giving the names of the ruling heads of Europe. There is an index in the back so you can look up a monarch etc. by name and then follow the symbols to find out about them. The copy at the Whipple is, however, missing the table that shows you what the symbols mean but by using ECCO I’ve been able to track down a copy of the table.

Example of symbols used in Parsons

The photo here shows a selection of the symbols used: the sun or sol as it is referred to in the table means “being ye most glorious of all ye characters the prince to whose name you find ye affixed is endowed wth ye greatest perfections. And by our historians esteemed a most accomplished prince.”, the symbol for Saturn (h like shape) means a cruel and bloody monarch, while the symbol for Mars (circle with arrow)  “denotes a prince of good courage and a warrior”, and the crescent moon is consigned to an unfortunate person. Other symbols appearing in the book cover various reign related information such as who they succeeded to the throne and how they died. The various symbols for cause of death include natural death, violent death, slain in battle, poisoned, beheaded, strangled, and died in prison. This book ends with a Perpetual Almanac, leading us nicely on to A pocket book by John Seller. Also containing a Perpetual Almanac  “For finding the day of the month for ever. For the past, present, and to come”, Seller’s book also provides a “description and use of the thirty-years almanack” and contains a history section. This section notes events which happened during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1678 including when the Thames froze over, the number of people who died of plague each year and when earthquakes occurred.  Many almanacs were political in tone, this one covering details from the reigns of James I, Charles I (mentioning him being “traitorously beheaded”) and Charles II and makes no references to Oliver Cromwell. Just like the previous book, this one is also missing pages when compared to copies on EBBO and does not have its original covers.

Title page of Playford’s Pocket Companion

Book number three in our little collection is Playford’s Vade mecum : or the necessary pocket companion. It is a slim tall book containing various tables and information including what you should be doing in your garden and orchard each month; weights and measures; postal rates; details of roads from London, including the distances to towns and cities and their market days; and the “rules, orders and rates, of hackney coachmen”. One of my favourite parts of this book is the rhyming guide to purchasing land (see photo below). This book used to belong to John Campbell, 4^th  Earl of Loudoun (1705-1782) a Scottish soldier and Fellow of the Royal Society.

The books mentioned above date from the late 17^th to 18^th centuries but these types of publications were still available in the 19^th century.  An index of dates by J. Willoughby Rosse was produced as a companion to Blair’s chronological tables.  It is an A-Z which covers the origins of countries, provides details about dynasties and eminent families, notes important battles throughout history, and other events such as earthquakes and major fires. Some sections are quite large, especially those which cover monarchs which have had the same name, for example there are about 15 pages on Charles’s. The slide show features various images from the books mentioned in this post. Its made a nice change looking at items that are not necessarily HPS related which have a more general audience.

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Title page from 1794

Towards the end of last year we received a donation of five volumes of White’s Ephemeris running from 1794 to 1845. (For its full title see photo of title page). First published in 1750 and continuing well after the original author’s death, the main feature of the Ephemeris was its astronomical tables but over the years other content was added. This included the dates when the law courts sat, birthdays of members of the royal family, list of the ruling heads of Europe, tide tables, and the longitude and latitudes of places around the globe. By looking though these volumes you can chart the history of England and science as they include changes in monarch and the discovery of new planets. The volumes we have cover the discovery of Uranus which is referred to as the Georgian or Hershel planet.

Little seems to be known of Robert White, according to the title pages he was a mathematics teacher at Grantham in the 1750’s. After his death in 1773 the Ephemeris continued and in 1831 became “White’s celestial atlas” edited first by Olinthus Gregory (1774-1841) and then by Wesley Stoker Barker Woolhouse (1809-1893). Both of these men were editors of similar almanacs (Gentleman’s and the Ladies Diaries). Perkins mentions that from 1775-1870, along with two others, they “dominated almanac compilation”.

Bequest note

Although we know little of the original author we do know more about the history of the volumes themselves. They were gifted to Alfred James Pearce (1840-1923) from Frederic Willis of Huddersfield around 1894. Sadly I’ve been unable to find any information about Willis. Pearce is more known as Zadkiel, the author of a self named almanac. This pseudonym “is the Cabbalistic name of the angel of Jupiter, the planet of wisdom” (Curry). Taking up such names was common practice in the world of almanacs, especially those that contained astrological information. Raphael was another name used and Raphael V (R.V. Sparkes) became the second Zadkiel for a brief time.  Capp comments that “almanacs founded by ‘Zadkiel’ and ‘Raphael’ sold together roughly 300,000 copies each year by 1900″. So that we have the full set: Zadkiel I was Richard James Morrison (1795-1874). Pearce became Zadkiel III, editing the almanac from 1875 for 47 years. The volumes we have do contain either full or parts of Zadkiel’s Almanac from 1840-1846 bound next to the White’s Ephemeris for the same year. Both Zadkiel I and III had events in their lives involving the law. Zadkiel I was personally involved in a libel case in which he was accused of being an imposer and of gulling the public. He went on to win the case. Zadkiel III’s father, who believed in the use of homoepathy, was put on trial for manslaughter after one of his patients died through no connection to this belief. He was acquitted and both he and his son went on to work together in medicine. Pearce’s profile in the DNB states that he changed the character of Zadkiel’s Almanac “..demonstrating a combination of moral integrity and seriousness, unmistakably high-Victorian in tone, with an absolute conviction that astrology was a mathematical science of corresponding probability”.

Zadkiel’s Almanac

Annotations

All five volumes have annotations written by both previous owners. These scribblings including the date and time of birth of Napoleon III, birth date of Ada Byron (who became Ada Lovelace, mathematician who worked on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine) and a note on the publishing history of Morrison (see photo). Most of the other almanacs we have in the library are nautical so these volumes are a nice addition to our collection.

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Reference:

Capp, B. Astrology and the popular press: English almanacs 1500-1800

Perkins, M. Visions of the future: almanacs, time, and cultural change 1775-1870

Curry, P. A confusion of prophets: Victorian and Edwardian astrology

On a cold, snowy January day, what can be better than a nice little surprise though the post:

Surprise book

It was a book which had been rediscovered by a donor and posted to us so it could join the rest of the donation. I got a bit over excited because the book, John Wilson’s A brief systematic view of phrenology (1835), is quite small (12 cm) and on a subject which I seem to becoming slightly obsessed with. Its preface states that its purpose is to act as an “introduction to the science; and for their use, and also a class-book”.  It explains the various phrenological faculties, there location on the skull, and unlike other phrenological guides I’ve read, mentions that some of them can only be identified by looking at the lower part of a persons face. Next there is a section on the temperaments. There are four in total: Lymphatic, Sanguine, Bilious, and Nervous. Each one comes with a short description including there supposed physical attributes. Those with a Bilious temperament are described as swarthy looking with dark brown or black hair and a strong pulse while a person with a Sanguine temperament has red or light brown hair, blue eyes and is probably going to suffer from obesity in middle age. As with the phrenological charts mentioned in a previous post, this book also mentions what phrenology can do stating that “It merely points out general tendencies, which may be either ill or well directed. It shows what powers require to be assisted and which should be lessened in their influence; and what tendencies can best be brought to assist the weak and repress the strong”. No phrenology book of this kind would be complete without an advert for phrenological consultations. Mr Wilson offers written descriptions of character and even to teach phrenology (see photo below).

Sadly the book only has the one plate (see photo below) and has no illustrations. Happily though we are the only library in Cambridge to have a version of this book and there seems to be only three others in the world (University of Liverpool, National Library of Ireland and the National Library of Medicine USA) and they are all different to the copy we have. The author seems to be John Wilson (1799-1870), a historian who wrote a number of books on British Israelism, a portrait can be seen in his Lectures on our Israelitish origin via archive.org.

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Title page

Plate

Advert

Title page

Winter: the word conjures many different images. If adverts are to be believed they involve cold dark nights spent inside, cosy and warm surrounded by friends/family or on your own, and indulging in chocolate, wine, or another seasonal food.  Back in the 1820s one such cosy gathering may have involved an amusement or two from Philosophical recreations : or, Winter amusements by John Badcock. This little book contains 301 activities including scientific experiments, card tricks, craft projects, mathematical puzzles, mind reading tricks, and a few pieces that don’t quite seem to fit with the rest of the book.

Figs. 13 & 14

The only illustrations in the book are featured on the frontispiece (see below for the full image),where 20 diagrams demonstrate how some of the recreations should be fashioned. Figs. 13 and 14, shown here, are for “The Magical Cascade” and “The illuminated fountain, that plays when candles are lighted and stops when they are extinguished”.  One of the figures is recognisable as a magic lantern (fig.16) while others are a bit harder to work out without consulting the book (well they are for me anyway). Fig. 11 just looks like a wedge of cheese but is actually showing how “The magic mirror” should be constructed.

Two of the more strange items in the book involve fire. “Ladies clothes catching fire, to extinguish” involves backing up the advice, by way of an experiment, that should a lady’s dress catch fire she should be made to lie down. Take two pieces of muslin or paper and set fire to both of them at one end, hold one piece upright and throw the other to the ground so it lies horizontally.  Then notice how the upright piece burns a lot quicker than the piece on the ground, therefore demonstrating that lying down is the better option. However, this advice does come with a warning: “A current of air always prevails near the floor, particularly between the door and fire-place, and therefore it must be kept in mind, not to run out of the room nor to open a window, in such cases, as that would be fatal”.

Entering a room on fire

This fact leads helpfully on to the second fire related piece, which is pictured here, “To enter a room which may be on fire without injury to one’s person”. Along with these items, the books also gives instructions on how to wash grease spots out of clothing, clean silk flowers, how to teach drawing and writing to young people, and how “To send carp and pike alive to any distance”. To do this, fill the fishes mouth with bread soaked in brandy and wrap them in straw and linen. Once they reach their destination they should be thrown into a tub of water and after 15 minutes will have completely recovered.

The book contains details of how to perform some experiments, as well as descriptions of some well known ones. There is an account of Robert Boyle’s air pump experiment on a Viper which demonstrates that the author is against the use of animals in experiments and he “will not stain our pages by recommending such cruelties…”. The author also describes Mr Symmer’s research on electricity which involved him doing various things with silk stockings. On the chemical side there is instruction on fulminating mercury which involves dissolving some over heat with nitrous acid, mixing it with alcohol and when a powder is formed it can be “struck on an anvil with a hammer, explod[ing] with a sharp stunning noise”.

Just to make this book fit even better with the season, it has been inscribed “To John Balfour from his affectionate friend, W.Reid” so perhaps it was a Christmas gift intended to keep him entertained over the long winter nights.

Frontispiece

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Joseph Millott Severn, described as having “…the head of a Roman Emperor and the luxuriant hair of a Paderewski…”

As we have a number of books in our Phrenology Collection featuring Joseph Millott Severn, either with him as the previous owner or as the author, I thought it might be interesting to find out a bit about him. Helpfully he produced a self published autobiography, The life story and experiences of a phrenologist, which hit the shelves in 1929.

Born in Codnor, Derbyshire in 1860, Joseph Millott Severn had a variety of jobs before settling on a career in phrenology.  He had developed an interest in the subject when he was a teenager and after a move to London he studied under Stackpool E. O’Dell, receiving his certificate in proficiency from the London Phrenological Institution in 1888. After a number of years travelling around the country, Severn set up home in Brighton with his second wife Alice and in 1897 established the Brighton and Hove Phrenological Society with J. P Blackford. When not providing consultations in his premises he spent time lecturing, writing articles and editing the journal The Popular Phrenologist. He was elected President of the British Phrenological in 1905.

One of my favourite sections of his autobiography is the tale of his attempt to set up a dating agency, or matrimonial bureau as he calls it. His idea involved having a register of men and women of marriageable age who “wished to have an introduction to a prospective marriage partner whose phrenological and temperamental conditions would harmonise with their own”. He would charge a small fee and show prospective partners photos of each other to gage if they would be interested. He goes on to explain that his only attempt at match-making failed as the woman of the proposed pairing disliked the age gap, she being 28 and he 37. Severn explains that his dating agency was unsuccessful as he was lacking a permanent address at the time and was too busy due to his other phrenological work.

Leaflet celebrating the Millott Severn’s 50 years of marriage

Severn saw phrenologists as architects of the mind due to them studying “the mental and physical structures of individuals”. He thought that phrenologists should be employed by the state as they would be able to help in the criminal and detective services, visit schools, colleges and asylums, and report on “the intellectual growth, progress and efficiency of many public institutions”. He also saw them having a role in business where they could help with employee selection. Severn also makes comments about schools, saying that they should be more about intellect than physicality and that governing authorities needed to set a higher value of intellectual achievements which would be better for the interests and advancement of national and world-wide affairs than “strenuous physical record-breaking feats”.

A master of self publicity, Severn often appeared in local newspapers and produced his own pamphlets about himself and his work. We are lucky enough to have some of these items, including a bookmark and a leaflet about his successful 50 years of marriage. They demonstrated how he believed phrenology had a role to play in every aspect of life, from schools, career choice, and marriage. He ends his autobiography by encouraging others to take up phrenology and stating that he wouldn’t change any part of his life.

Publicity material

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In an attempt to make the blog fit in with seasonal celebrations, I’ve managed to find something on fireworks (sadly I don’t think we have anything that is directly linked to Halloween, and Christmas may be a challenge). The mysteryes of natvre and art by John Bate, published in 1634, contains 4 treatise one of which is on “fyerworks”. It details the main instruments and ingredients needed to make various types of fireworks:

1. Such as operate in the ayre, as Rockets, Serpents, Raining fire, Stars, Petards, Dragons, Fire-drakes, Feinds, Gyronels, or Fire-wheeles, Balloons.

2. Such as operate upon the earth, as Crackers, Trunks, Lanterns, Lights, Tumbling bals, Saucissons, Towers, Castles, Pyramids, Clubs, Lances, Targets.

3. Such as burn in or on the water, as Rockets. Dolphins, Ships, Tumbling bals.

The treatise has a number of diagrams showing how the fireworks should be made and what they look like when completed. My favourite 3 fireworks described are the more showy ones: the Dragon, Fire-Drake and the Dolphin. The Dragon is made from dry and light wood, or thin whale bones which is filled with rockets and is propelled along a rope by 2 fireworks attached to it. According to the treatise the Fire-drake looks “strangely and fearefully” in the sky. As you can see from the photo it looks like a kite so would be simpler to make than the Dragon or the Dolphin. The Dolphin looks more like a fish than the mammal we know today but would have look very impressive reflected in the water. The slide show below also feature a man carrying a fire-club which is from the title page of the treatise.

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Title page of the Chart

To coincide with the new display in the library featuring books from our phrenology collection, this post will focus on the phrenological chart produced by Mr and Mrs Stackpool E. O’Dell. So firstly why would people have a phrenological chart made? The O’Dell’s state that the chart allows people to remind themselves of the “qualities they need to cultivate or restrain, the abilities they should try most to use, [and] the things against which they should be most on their guard”.  They also point out that the chart can provide guidance in choosing a career, explain why a child is not succeeding at school, help a person learn more about themselves and help in the selection of a wife/husband. As phrenology was seen as something similar to palmistry by some, the Stackpool’s cover themselves by saying that the chart should be read “with common sense, not taken too literally, and not looked upon as a sort of infallible, mathematical index to character”.

This chart was possibly first made available in the late 1890’s, and ran to numerous editions up until the 1920’s.  We have 3 different editions, the 22nd, 24th and 28th, here at the Whipple which date from the early 1900’s. The chart is divided into 5 sections:

• Phrenological Chart of Character
• Summaries of Character
• Health Table
• Diet Table
• Marriage Table

Those wishing a consultation could pick which sections of the chart they wanted completed. If they have 42 s (or there about, the price increased in the later editions) there is the option of having a “full delineation” which not only has all the sections filled in but also a 30 page handwritten character profile.  Amazingly we have a one of these completed charts, more about this later.

List of the Faculties

The Phrenological Chart of Character is divided into the 42 mental faculties (see photo for complete list) defined by Johann Gaspar Spurzheim (1776-1832). O’Dell has created a scale for each faculty ranging from the 1st to 6th degree which denotes the strength of the faculty with 1 being the weakest and 6th the strongest. Each faculty also comes with brief advice on how the customer can cultivate or restrain the faculty. The 5th degree of the Faculty of Constructiveness stands out as it reflects the views on gender roles at the start of the 20th century  “You have good constructive talent ….you would make a good mechanician; if you have artistic taste, you would do well as an architect- or if a woman, as a high-class milliner or dressmaker”. Also, the Faculty of Sublimity’s 5th degree is interesting because of its over the top use of descriptiveness “You have a passion for everything that is stupendous or grand, the ocean, with its mountain waves; the lightning, with its lurid glare; the heavens, with their stupendous worlds..”.  As you can imagine the 1st degree for the majority of faculties are mostly negative: for Mirthfulness: “You generally look very sad and sever, you scarcely know the meaning of a smile”,  Hope:  “you see nothing in the future but darkness. Liable to insanity in the connection” and Vitativeness: “Love of life is small .. Avoid thoughts of ending it”. It does make you wonder if Phrenologists ever told people they had the 1st degree of these faculties, and considered the impact it would have on their customer. After this main section of the chart there is the Summaries of Character which has 6 descriptions of the most prevalent types of character.

Diet Table

The O’Dells point out that they are not trained physicians but “the phrenologist [can] discern the quality and condition of the brain from the texture of the skin, texture and colour of hair, colour of eyes and general temperament.”  This involves them looking at a persons Organic Quality, Organic Activity, Vital and Motive Temperaments.  By looking at these areas they are able to complete the Heath and Diet Tables. The Health Table itself covers Breathing, Circulation, Digestion, Nerves and General Health. These are each divided using the same 1st -6th  degree scale, with the 1st degree being much like before with its doom and gloom stating such things like you have sufficient lung action to keep you alive, eating is an annoyance, your circulation is so bad it might stop suddenly.  The Diet Table advises how many ounces of certain foods should be eaten during the week. It even has a section on how long it takes for certain foods and drinks to digest. My favourite beef tea (see post on sick room cookery) takes 3 hours, apples take 2 hours 30 minutes and calf’s head 3 hours.

Want to find that special person to spend the rest of your life with or want to make sure that the person you are currently with is “the one”, then why not have a Marriage Chart compiled. It gives the degree of each faculty that a potential partner should have. It also has a temperament section giving the skin, hair and eye colour and the form and height that the future Mr/Mrs should have and the most suitable age ranges that both parties should be. By having the chart completed the O’Dell’s believe it will “cause you to think of the matter in a much more intelligent and foreseeing way that would otherwise be the case”.

Front page of the Phrenological Delineation

As mentioned above we have 3 versions of the O’Dell’s Chart and all of them have been filled in to some extent. Of them, the 22nd edition (PH:814), is the most complete. It has a 30 page delineation at the back performed by Mrs G Stackpool E. O’Dell.  It was completed in October 1920 for what looks like a Mr. J. G. Notts. He has been advised to pay attention to his digestion and nerves on the Heath Table, to have 4 meals a day each taking 35 minutes, take 4 warm baths a week and sleep for 8 hours each night. Should he be looking for a partner she should have fair skin, blue eyes, dark brown hair and be aged 22-24, the suitable age for him to marry is 26-30.  The 30 page delineation, which I have to thank Louisa Russell for helping me decipher, advises him to be more assertive, cultivate Hope and be wary of things having an impact on his nervous system. He has an interest in educational subjects which will improve his progressive mind but he needs to concentrate more. There is a slight clash with his desire to travel and need for a more settled life. It is suggested that he should marry an intelligent, domesticated and hopeful wife and not be too sensitive to criticism in the future.

We have no way of finding out how true the things written in this chart were or if Mr Notts acted on any of the suggestions. But would anyone really base their future on what was told to them by someone looking at the bumps on their head?

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Title page of volume 1

With summer here it’s time to start to decide where to go for a late UK holiday. Where better to look than The natural history of England : or, A description of each particular county, in regard to the curious productions of nature and art : illustrated by a map of each county and sculptures of natural curiosities  by Benjamin Martin (STORE 34:18-19). Martin, called “one of the first genuine retailers in the instrument trade“¹, wrote numerous books covering a range of topics including astronomy, optics, the description and use of scientific instruments, mathematics, natural philosophy, and the English language. The book under consideration here was first published as part of The general magazine of arts and sciences which was established by Martin and his bookseller William Owen. Facts provided about each English county include their size and shape, distance of major towns from London, how they are administered, if they have charity schools, the types of trades and crops they have, air and soil quality, market days, and notable antiquities. Northumberland, my home county, is described as a triangle and “the air is as pleasant as can be imagined in such a mountainous country” and  “almost every places shews Roman alters, inscriptions, monuments of battles, heroes killed, armies routed, castles in ruins…”, it does have the lovely Hadrian’s Wall and lots of castles. Cambridgeshire has differing air and soil depending on what part of the county you are in, with Ely being “12 miles from Cambridge, 69 from London, is an ancient city, Chief of the fenny country …. surrounded by the Ouse and other streams, is therefore unhealthy, tho’ it stands somewhat on rising ground …. their cathedral church is a very lofty fabric, and has a stately cupola, tho’ it seems to totter with every gust of wind”. I’m assuming he means the Octagon, which looks quite secure when I pass it almost every morning.

Map of Cambridgeshire

            Along with the more mundane facts there is the occasional item of curiosity such as tales of medicinal springs, of a dwarf being born in Rutlandshire and in Cheshire some odd sheep:  “they are of a larger size than most others, and bear rather a kind of hair than wool; they have all 4 horns and sometimes of extraordinary size. The two horns next to the neck are erect like those of goats but larger: the other next the forehead are curved”. Cheshire also has a spring that when bottled forces itself through the pores in the glass, and a remarkable echo at Norton.

            These books cover more than just England, they also covers Wales, the Isle of Man and Isle of Anglesey. Of the Welch: “They had a language of their own …. endeavours have been long used to extirpate it, yet to no purpose; and at present, beside the bible, many books of practical religion, and on other subjects of literature, are printed in that language.” He goes on to explain that many of the church ministers in Wales were English and only used that language but now most of the clergy are natives and therefore preach in both Welch and English. The description of the Isle of Man includes the following on the wildlife “They have no badgers, foxes, otters, moles, hedgehogs, or snakes in that Country, or any other noxious animal: Nor had they any frogs till lately, some spawn of frogs was brought over by a gentleman, since which they have considerably increased.” These animals are still not seen on the Isle of Man to this day.

Stonehenge, one of the places of antiquity mentioned in the book

            Not only is this a interesting book (who can resist a fold out map), but Martin himself seems like an interesting character. He was self educated, was a school teacher, lectured about natural philosophy around the country and finally set up shop in London making and selling scientific instruments. He had at least two advertising wars with other instrument makers, one over portable steel-yards (coin balances) and the other over what he called visual glasses. He also traded insults with John Frekes over each other’s books on electricity. Martin died in 1782 after being declared bankrupt, it is thought that he made an unsuccessful suicide attempt and died a month later.

Note and bibliography:

1. Preface by G. L’E Turner in Millburn, J.R. Retailer of the sciences: Benjamin Martin’s scientific instrument catalogues, 1756-82. London: Vade-Mecum Press, 1986

Millburn, J. R. Benjamin Martin: author instrument maker, and ‘country showman’. Leyden: Noordhof International publishing, 1976

Millburn, J.R. Benjamin Martin: author, instrument maker and ‘country showman’, Supplement. London: Vade-Mecum Press, 1986.

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Whipple Library, STORE 13:13 OS

On 6 June 2012 Venus crossed the sun for the second time in a decade. Transits of Venus occur in pairs, approximately 8 years apart, at intervals of over a century – prior to 8 June 2004 the last occurred in 1874, and the next will be in 2117 – and have yielded important astronomical data, not least as the basis for measuring the distance between the earth and the sun.[1] To mark this important occasion, the last in our lifetimes, we take a look at the earliest record of a transit in the Whipple Collection.

Observing the transit of Venus only became possible following the invention of the telescope in the early seventeenth century, and the first to leave a written record was Jeremiah Horrocks, of Toxteth Park in Lancashire. Horrocks had studied at Emmanuel College Cambridge from 1632 to 1635 where he developed a serious interest in astronomy, and, as his later correspondence with William Crabtree, of Broughton, near Manchester, shows, he was much enamoured of the work of Johannes Kepler. Kepler had correctly anticipated the transits of both Mercury and Venus in 1631, but, as the latter occurred at night in Europe, it went unobserved, and Kepler believed the next would occur only in 1761. However, by observing the skies and revising existing tables Horrocks realised in the early autumn of 1639 that Venus would in fact cross the Sun again on or around 24 November that year.[2]

Whipple Library, STORE 13:12 OS

Horrocks later recorded in his treatise Venus in sole visa how he communicated the news by letter to his younger brother Jonas and his friend Crabtree so that they could also prepare to observe the transit.[3] Unfortunately the sky was too overcast in Liverpool for Jonas to catch a glimpse, and Crabtree was resigned to a similar fate in Salford until the sky cleared just before sunset (at approx. 3.35pm) to afford him a view. Horrocks, in the village of Much Hoole near Preston, was more fortunate:

About fifteen minutes past three in the afternoon, when I was again at liberty to continue my labours, the clouds, as if by divine interposition, were entirely dispersed, and I was once more invited to the grateful task of repeating my observations. I then beheld a most agreeable spectacle, the object of my sanguine wishes, a spot of unusual magnitude and of a perfectly circular shape, which had already fully entered upon the sun’s disc on the left, so that the limbs of the Sun and Venus precisely coincided, forming an angle of contact. Not doubting that this was really the shadow of the planet, I immediately applied myself sedulously to observe it.[4]

As Allan Chapman has demonstrated, besides recording the celestial events of 24 November and the calculations he derives from them, Horrocks’s Venus treatise was the product of several years of astronomical thought and study, and firmly aligned Horrocks with the New Astronomy movement originating in continental Europe. It was his enthusiastic advocacy of an observational and experimental approach to astronomy, in contrast to the more traditional computational approach via tables that made Horrocks popular with the pioneers of the Royal Society.[5]

Whipple Library STORE 13:12 OS

Horrocks died young in January 1641, before any of his work had been published, but by the efforts of a number of his Cambridge contemporaries, including John Wallis and John Worthington, some of his papers were preserved. Manuscript copies of Venus in sole visa were in circulation in the late 1650s, and by 1660 one had reached Huygens in Holland. According to Whatton’s memoir, this was the route by which Horrocks’s treatise reached Johannes Hevelius in Danzig,[6] who published the Venus text alongside his own treatise on the transit of Mercury in 1662.[7]

Whipple Library STORE 13:12 OS

Hevelius occupies an important position in the history of scientific communication in the seventeenth century because of his close attention to detail in depicting his astronomical observations – even to the extent of describing the construction of the instruments – and the time he spent supervising his books through the press.[8] Horrocks’s Venus in sole visacan only have benefitted by association with Hevelius in this way, reinforcing the Lancastrian’s credentials as an experimental astronomer.

Whipple Library, STORE 13:12 OS

R.S. Whipple purchased his copy of Hevelius’s works for £45 from his regular book dealer Thomas Court of Harrow on 13 June 1938. The volume contains 4 works – Epistolæ II (1654), Dissertatio, de Nativa Saturni Facie (1656), Mercurius in sole visus Gedani (1662), and the rare Machinæ Coelestis (1673)[9] – and Whipple had it re-backed for 13s 6d the following year.

Whipple Library, STORE 13:12 OS

The stamp on the title page of the Epistolæ II shows that the volume previously belonged to the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford. Construction of the Radcliffe Observatory began in 1772 at the suggestion of Dr Thomas Hornsby, Savilian Professor of Geometry, after he had observed the 1769 transit of Venus from a room in the neighbouring Radcliffe Infirmary, but the Observatory was closed and the building sold in 1934. It is now part of Green Templeton College. The Radcliffe Observatory Library was sold at auction by Sotheby’s in May 1935. Whipple was later to acquire a further four volumes from the collection, strengthening the representation of seventeenth-century astronomy found in the Whipple Collection today.

AJ

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[1] Royal Society website: http://royalsociety.org/exhibitions/transit-venus/

[2] http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/13806, accessed 4 June 2012. Allan Chapman, ‘Jeremiah Horrocks, the transit of Venus, and the ‘New Astronomy’ in early seventeenth-century England’, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 31 (1990), 333-357.

[3] Johannis Hevelii Mercurius in Sole visus Gedani, anno christiano MDCLXI, d. III Maji, st. n. cum aliis quibusdam rerum coelestium observationibus, rarisq[ue] phaenomenis. Cui annexa est Venus in Sole pariter visa, anno 1639, d. 24 Nov. st. v. Liverpoliae, a Jeremia Horroxio, nunc primum edita … quibus accedit succinta Historiola, novae illius, ac mirae stellae in collo Ceti .. Nec non genuina delineatio paraselenarum & pareliorum quorundam rarissimorum. (Gedani, Simon Reiniger, 1662). Whipple Library, STORE: 13:12 OS

[4] A. B. Whatton, The Transit of Venus across the Sun: A Translation of the Celebrated Discourse Thereupon by the Rev. Jeremiah Horrox, to which is prefixed a Memoir of his Life and Labours (London, William Macintosh, [1859]), p. 124.

[5] Chapman, ‘Jeremiah Horrocks’, pp 337-341.

[6] Whatton, Transit, p. 62.

[7] Johannis Hevelii Mercurius in Sole visus Gedani, anno christiano MDCLXI, d. III Maji, st. n. cum aliis quibusdam rerum coelestium observationibus, rarisq[ue] phaenomenis. Cui annexa est Venus in Sole pariter visa, anno 1639, d. 24 Nov. st. v. Liverpoliae, a Jeremia Horroxio, nunc primum edita … quibus accedit succinta Historiola, novae illius, ac mirae stellae in collo Ceti .. Nec non genuina delineatio paraselenarum & pareliorum quorundam rarissimorum. (Gedani, Simon Reiniger, 1662). Whipple Library STORE 13:12 OS

[8] Mary G. Winkler and Albert Van Helden, ‘Johannes Hevelius and the visual language of astronomy’ in J. V. Field and Frank A. J. L. James (eds), Renaissance and Revolution: Humanists, scholars, craftsmen and natural philosophers in early modern Europe (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993), 97-116.

[9] Many copies of Machinæ Coelestis were destroyed in a fire at Hevelius’s observatory in 1681. See Silvia De Renzi, Instruments in Print: Books from the Whipple Collection (Cambridge, Whipple Museum of the History of Science, 2000), p. 16.

While putting a book back in our store I spotted a little collection of unassuming looking books that have the same two words in common “king’s evil”. These books, which have all been rebound therefore hiding their true ages, describe various ways that the king’s evil, or scrofula, was treated. The term scrofula seems to have been used to cover various illness throughout its history though it is most commonly connected to tuberculosis of the neck. The various symptoms it encompassed included  swelling of the upper lip, tumours, blindness or weakened sight, swollen glands, ulcers, and bone decay.  It is referred to as the king’s evil as it was believed to be cured by being touched by the king. The authors in this little collection all advocate the use of their own cures, with one of them referring to their “specific remedy”. They don’t go into much details about the ingredients in these cures and one of them states “So long as the thing is safe, and answers the end propos’d, it is, I think, no great matter if the patient knows its proper name or no”.

Let’s start with the youngest of the books, the explanatorily titled: A treatise on struma or scrofula, commonly called the king’s evil : in which the impropriety of considering it as an hereditary disease is pointed out; more rational causes are assigned; and a successful method of treatment is recommended (STORE 118:20).   Written by a surgeon to the London-dispensary, Thomas White, and published in 1784, it puts the appearance of scrofula in children down to their “improper management” [pg 16]. He believes that children with their “fat, soft, flabby feel” suffer from this disease due to too much sleep and over feeding, and they are dressed so restrictively that they can’t breathe properly nor exercise enough. For older sufferers the causes include wounds and external injuries, change of diet, extreme cold and variable weather. White goes on to mention how the disease can be prevented through good diet, exercising, and good hygiene, and that the most successful method of treatment is a mild preparation of mercury. Other treatments he mentions include the use of sea water tonics, various lotions, steamed herbs and electricity. This interesting method involves stimulating the affected part with electricity, insulating the patient and drawing sparks from the tumour.

We move from the modern use of electricity down the more traditional herbal root with An essay on the nature and cure of the king’s evil : deduced from observation and practice, The 4th ed., with additions, and a great variety of cases and their remedies, with a plate of the herb vervain: published, for the good of mankind, particularly the common people by John Morley (STORE 118:15). First published in 1760 and running to 32 editions, this book aims to show people how to cure themselves without spending the little money they have on pills and elixirs that appear in “specious advertisements”. The author explains that he needs to see his patients so he can make a proper assessment of their symptoms and make a better judgment on their treatment. He also takes no payment for his time, although he does mention that some neighbouring gentlemen and ladies have given him small acknowledgments of tea, wine, venison, small pieces of plate and other gifts.  The main cure, unsurprisingly giving the one plate in the book, involves the use of Vervain. The root of the herb should be tied around the patients neck with a white satin ribbon that is long enough to let the root rest on their stomach. The book also contains a recipe to make an ointment which can be applied to sores which is made out of the herb, leek leaves and boiled pork lard. If this doesn’t appeal, another remedy involves making up a cataplasm (poultice) including a garden snail minus its shell and parsley.  Why a snail? It does make you wonder about peoples thought processes.

Another snappy titled book covering this subject is A perfect cure for the King’s evil, (whether hereditary or accidental,) by effectual alcalious medicines: faithfully approv’d by the experience of eighteen years practice, and the testimony of above four hundred patients restor’d beyond relapse by Thomas Fern [1709] (STORE 118:21). Fern, a chirurgeon, goes on to give a p.s on the title page explaining that he was cured by the same medicine described in the book after suffering for eleven years and consulting doctors in London. He describes how he was eventually cured and became apprentice to the doctor that saved his leg from being amputated. He is very much against old wives cures and believes that only doctors and surgeons can cure it, he certainly believes that “Divines do not work Miracles now a-days; neither can they cure the King’s evil, I believe, by Virtue either of there Function, sanctity, Blessing”. He goes on to state that he has a DIPLOMA (authors capitals) and a license. Yet he states further on “And here I cannot omit one observation by the by; that children also who are begotten at improper Times of the moon, have been often subject to be afflicted with This Evil, and to the last degree too of virulency. Let this be a warning to Marry’d people”. Unlike the author above, he thinks that the disease can be hereditary and is immediately caused by the ”praeternatural acidity in the serum of the blood”. Although he discusses the treatments he offers and the wonderful affects they have he doesn’t say what they are made of at all (more snail perhaps). He offers to send his medicines to people who are unable to come and see him if they write to him with full description of their illness.

The next book in this interesting group makes a number of references to Thomas Fern. Written by an author who also suffered from the king’s evil,  An easie and safe method for curing the King’s evil : With several observations which may be of use and service to people afflicted with that distemper. To which is added, A specimen of success, in a faithful relation of many extraordinary cures on men, women, and children. In a letter to a friend by William Vickers, M.A. (STORE 118:17) was published in this 6th edition in 1711. The title of this volume was changed over the years, one year it was adjusted to include: “Account of many extraordinary Cures on Men, Women, and Children, with plain Reasons, why these Illnesses are not Curable by the Common and Known Methods of Physick and Surgery”.  Vickers spends part of the book defending himself from various attacks, be they of malice and envy, from ignorant people or from those who criticised him for not having a qualification in medicine. He specifically refers to “D. Turners remarkable case insurgery” which is probably Daniel Turner’s Apologia Chyrurgica: a vindication of the noble art of chyrurgery from the gross abuses offer’d thereunto by mountebanks, quacks, barbers etc., published 1695, and “Ferne’s Perface to the King’s Evil perfectly cur’d”. He disagrees with Fern’s theory of acid in the blood and mentions the experiments of Robert Boyle to justify his reasoning. On page 42 he states “ ..I appeal to some of Mr Fern’s own patients, who have been under my care, and have through God’s blessing been PERFECTLY cured by me”.  Fern’s book is dedicated to George Boddington whos son he claims to have treated with success. However, Vickers mentions the death of a James Boddington, the son of a turkey merchant who died after treatment. We can assume that this is the same family. There is a George Boddington (1646-1719) mentioned in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,  who was in the turkey trade and further investigations reveals that he had a son called James who died in 1710. There is definitely something going on between Vickers and Fern, whether it was personal, over clients, differing methods of treatment, varying ideas about surgery and religion (Vickers was a reverend, Fern a Surgeon) we will never know.

Altogther these books give us an insighful look into the various treatments for one disease. They also show us the colourful characters, be they surgeons, doctors or quacks, trying to provide the common man and woman with a cure to this “evil” disease.

Dawn