E-Book Overview
'Medicine-by-Post' is an interdisciplinary study that will engage readers both in the history of medicine and the eighteenth-century novel. The correspondence from the large private practices of James Jurin, George Cheyne, and William Cullen opens a unique window on the doctor patient relationship in England and Scotland from this period. The letters, many previously unpublished, reveal a changing rhetoric that mirrors contemporary shifts in medical theory and the patient's self-image. 'Medicine-by-Post' uncovers the strategies of self-representation by both healers and patients, and reinterprets the meaning of illness and the medical encounter in eighteenth-century literature in the light of true-life experience. The tension between the patient's personal needs and the doctor's professional will presents a ready metaphor for the novelist, depicting the social expectations placed upon the individual as well as a measure of one's moral character in the context of illness. The correspondence also demonstrates the subtle changes in rhetoric regarding 'sensibility', reflecting evolving medical speculation. It also describes the differing perspectives of the female body between doctors and novelists and the women patients themselves. Yet much of this correspondence shows an unexpected blend of metaphor with a realistic and utilitarian approach to therapeutic advice and the patient's own compliance. In these letters we discover some genuinely sympathetic doctors. Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Patients and their Doctors in Eighteenth-Century Britain: Etiquette, Eclecticism, and Ethics 2 New Science Rhetoric in Medicine-by-Post: The Private Practice Correspondence of Dr James Jurin 3 George Cheyne: A Very Public Private Doctor 4 The Correspondence of Dr William Cullen: Scottish Enlightenment and New Directions in Medicine-by-Post 5 Literary Applications of Medicine-by-Post Bibliography Index
E-Book Content
MEDICINE-BY-POST THE CHANGING VOICE OF ILLNESS IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH CONSULTATION LETTERS AND LITERATURE
THE WELLCOME SERIES IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE Forthcoming: Healing Bodies, Saving Souls: Medical Missions in Asia and Africa Edited by David Hardiman
The Wellcome Series in the History of Medicine series editors are V. Nutton, M. Neve and R. Cooter. Please send all queries regarding the series to Michael Laycock, The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, 210 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE, UK.
MEDICINE-BY-POST THE CHANGING VOICE OF ILLNESS IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH CONSULTATION LETTERS AND LITERATURE Wayne Wild
Amsterdam – New York, NY 2006
First published in 2006 by Editions Rodopi B. V., Amsterdam – New York, NY 2006. Editions Rodopi B.V. © 2006 Design and Typesetting by Michael Laycock, The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL. Printed and bound in The Netherlands by Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam – New York, NY 2006. Index by Indexing Specialists (UK) Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN-10: 90-420-1868-2 ISBN-13: 978-90-420-1868-6 ‘Medicine-by-Post: The Changing Voice of Illness in Eighteenth-Century British Consultation Letters and Literature’ – Amsterdam – New York, NY: Rodopi. – ill. (Clio Medica 79 / ISSN 0045-7183; The Wellcome Series in the History of Medicine) Front cover: Three afluent doctors congratulating themselves on their profession, colou