Details
[LONDON - THE GREAT PLAGUE]. BALL, Francis. Autograph letter signed to Mr Marsh of Hammersmith, n.p. [London], 16 August 1665, one page, 8vo, integral address leaf (light water stains), red morocco case.
A letter replying to a request for a receipt against the plague, advising his correspondent to 'Take of the Best Venis Treacle one Quarttern of a pound, Conserve of Wood Sorrill halfe a pound', which will preserve him from 'any maner of Inffectshon', and giving instructions for taking it.
The Great Plague of London in 1664-1665 followed a period unusually free of pestilence. In 1665 almost 69,000 deaths were recorded in a population of 460,000, two thirds of whom are said to have fled the city. It was the last epidemic of plague in England. Because of the fear of infection, comparatively few letters written in London at this date have survived.
Venice treacle was made of a large number of medicaments reduced to an electuary or medicinal compound prepared with honey, which dissolved in the mouth. It was also recommended by Daniel Defoe in his History of the Great Plague (1754), for its effectiveness in inducing sweating and so reducing fevers.
A letter replying to a request for a receipt against the plague, advising his correspondent to 'Take of the Best Venis Treacle one Quarttern of a pound, Conserve of Wood Sorrill halfe a pound', which will preserve him from 'any maner of Inffectshon', and giving instructions for taking it.
The Great Plague of London in 1664-1665 followed a period unusually free of pestilence. In 1665 almost 69,000 deaths were recorded in a population of 460,000, two thirds of whom are said to have fled the city. It was the last epidemic of plague in England. Because of the fear of infection, comparatively few letters written in London at this date have survived.
Venice treacle was made of a large number of medicaments reduced to an electuary or medicinal compound prepared with honey, which dissolved in the mouth. It was also recommended by Daniel Defoe in his History of the Great Plague (1754), for its effectiveness in inducing sweating and so reducing fevers.
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