Henry Mayhew painted a vivid picture of what life was like for London's underprivileged. In particular, he demonstrated how poverty was intricately connected to injury and disease. Not only were the poor more likely to suffer from injuries or illnesses, but long-lasting and disabling afflictions were a leading cause of impoverishment in the first place. Additional factors, such as the cost of a physician and a growing mistrust of orthodox medical knowledge, created a medical marketplace teaming with quack doctors, extraordinary cure-alls, and popular medical textbooks jostling for the attention of London's sick and impoverished. Disentangling the real from the fraudulent, and the helpful from the harmful would have been a daunting task for those already disadvantaged by grueling work hours, little education, and substandard living conditions. However, some physicians were outraged by London's chaotic and unregulated medical system and sought to create a body of accessible medical knowledge that would offer the poor safe, effective, cheap remedies that would be easy to acquire and self-administer. This page examines three such medical books alongside examples of nostrums, patent medicines, and other cures-alls that vied for the limited funds of London's poorest citizens. 

In the introduction Boyle points to his own lifelong struggles with poor health as one of the motivations for publishing Medicinal Experiments.  His weak constitution inspired him to learn about medicine and made him sympathetic to the plight of the ill. Boyle believed that doctors had a moral, religious, and professional duty to treat all patients regardless of their ability to pay, and saw the lack of affordable medical treatment available to the poor as a major failing of the medical establishment. Without formal medical training, Boyle relied on personal experimentation to test most of the recipes on himself before he would recommend them. He did not personally try all the cures, but only included recipes that he received from trusted sources if they provided a glowing recommendation of their potency. The treatments in Medicinal Experiments have a focus on common or accidental maladies of a less serious nature such as colds, coughs, bruises, strains, cuts, aches, burns, and external tumors. The recipes are divided into three classes: 'A' recipes are the highest class and are considered to be the most efficacious, whereas the 'C' class medicines have not been personally consumed by Boyle but are considered to be worth a try based on the results of recipes with a similar composition. 

The General Practise of Physick by Christoph Wirsung was originally published in German in 1568. This copy is an English translation published in 1654. The book contains around 15 000 recipes as well as theoretical information on the anatomy and functions of the human body, the causes and symptoms of disease, and practical methods for treating illness. Similar to Pitt and Boyle, Wirsung's motivation for publishing The General Practise of Physick was to contribute to the common good by making medical knowledge widely available, particularly to the poor and those living in rural areas. The book's English translator, Jacob Mosan Germane, further argued that his translation filled a gap by providing a comprehensive reference volume of safe and useful directions in English for those who could not access or afford a learned physician. 

Like other medical authors of his time, Wirsung expressed concern about the quality of medical knowledge and cures available to the public, and the difficulties in discerning legitimate doctors and medicines from the “presumptuous intermeddling of audacious and unskillful persons.” Wirsung describes three types of physicians: the empirical, methodical, and the logical. Wirsung states that the logical physician is most effective, combining the knowledge of traditional recipes and cures, like an empirical physician, with the most current medical knowledge gleaned from published medical texts, like the methodical physician. Most importantly, the logical physician has the reason to take factors such as the patient's age, strength, diet, living situation, and length of illness into account when deciding on the best course of treatment. Wirsung sought to provide his readers with a solid basis in medical and disease theory, in order to encourage readers to apply reason and rationality to their own ailments.

The General Practise of Physick progresses through the main parts of the body: head, breast, belly, and extremities. For each part of the body, Wirsung identifies the sources from which disease can spring, the signs by which different diseases can be identified, and the remedies that are best suited for treating specific diseases. Wirsung also provides detailed guidance on how medicines and medicinal ingredients should be gathered, prepared, measured, and stored, and the therapeutic benefits of sleep, healthy foods, rest, and movement. 

The early modern period saw the publication of many medical texts designed to address the often-neglected field of women's health. The General Practise of Physick contains several lengthy chapters on women's health, and focuses on reproductive health issues such as menstruation, virginity, pregnancy, childbearing, abortion, as well as diseases specific to the womb and breasts. 

Published February 2025 by Sade Dunn, Public Service Archives and Special Collections Assistant.