John Hall, Master of Physicke - by Greg Wells & Paul Edmondson (Hardcover)

Number of Pages: 360
Genre: Drama
Sub-Genre: Shakespeare
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Age Range: Adult
Author: Greg Wells & Paul Edmondson
Language: English

About the Book

Revised translation of Select observations on English bodies / John Hall. 1657.

Book Synopsis

This is the first complete edition and English translation of John Hall's Little Book of Cures, a fascinating medical casebook composed in Latin around 1634DS5. John Hall (1575DS1635) was Shakespeare's son-in-law (Hall married Susanna Shakespeare in 1607), and based his medical practice in
Stratford-upon-Avon. Readers have never before had access to a complete English translation of John Hall's casebook, which contains fascinating details about his treatment of patients in and around Stratford.

Until Wells's edition, our knowledge of Hall and his practice has had to rely only on a partial, seventeenth-century edition (produced by James Cooke in 1657 and 1679, and re-printed with annotation by Joan Lane as recently as 1996). Cooke's edition significantly misrepresents Hall by abridging his
manuscript (Cooke removed Hall's conversations with his patients), by errors of translation, and by combining Hall's work with examples from Cooke's own medical practice. Wells's work is the first complete, accurate, and authoritative edition of Hall's casebook. It especially reveals Hall's
compassion for his patients, his feelings of joy when they made a recovery, and his religious faith in relation to his medical skills.

From the Back Cover

This is the first complete edition and English translation of John Hall's Little Book of Cures, a fascinating medical casebook composed in Latin around 1634-5. John Hall (1575-1635) was Shakespeare's son-in-law (Hall married Susanna Shakespeare in 1607), and based his medical practice in Stratford-upon-Avon. Readers have never before had access to a complete English translation of John Hall's casebook, which contains fascinating details about his treatment of patients in and around Stratford. Until Wells's edition, our knowledge of Hall and his practice has had to rely only on a partial, seventeenth-century edition (produced by James Cooke in 1657 and 1679, and re-printed with annotation by Joan Lane as recently as 1996). Cooke's edition significantly misrepresents Hall by abridging his manuscript (Cooke removed Hall's conversations with his patients), by errors of translation, and by combining Hall's work with examples from Cooke's own medical practice. Wells's work is the first complete, accurate, and authoritative edition of Hall's casebook. It especially reveals Hall's compassion for his patients, his feelings of joy when they made a recovery, and his religious faith in relation to his medical skills. This comprehensive volume includes an introduction to Hall himself as well as the text, a consideration of his library, and an overview of the manuscript and how it survived.

Review Quotes

'a remarkable piece of scholarship that goes beyond quaintness and unintended humour (no pun intended) to offer a convincing composite portrait of a society pitched between atavism and modernity.' Brian Morton, TLS

About the Author

Greg Wells practised as a consultant in public health within the N.H.S. He received his MA and PhD from The University of Warwick

Paul Edmondson is Head of Research for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust