During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, astrological medicine gained prevalence throughout Great Britain. Simon Forman and Richard Napier were perhaps the most prominent astrologer-physicians; collectively, they saw thousands of patients in urban and rural areas. During visits, Foreman or Napier would interview each patient and consult astrological charts to gain insight into their ailments. The Casebooks Project, a collaboration between the Wellcome Trust, the Bodleian Libraries, and the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, details this fascinating part of medical history via medical casebooks authored by Forman and Napier between 1596 and 1634 and other digitized material relating to astrological medicine. Perhaps the best place to start is with the Introduction to the Casebooks, available under The Manuscripts tab. Here, readers may learn about the history of these casebooks and how they were organized. Next, visitors may wish to check out digitized and transcribed casebooks, found within The Casebooks section. This collection may be searched by a number of fields, including Date & TIme, Patient, and Case Details. Finally, the On Astrological Medicine section provides Guides to Astrology and a list of Further Reading. This project provides a fascinating glimpse into an oft-forgotten chapter of European medical history.
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