Medicine and Magic in Elizabethan London: Simon Forman: Astrologer, Alchemist, and Physician

Simon Forman (1552-1611) is one of London's most infamous astrologers. Whilst he was consulted thousands of times a year for medical and other questions he stood apart from the medical elite as he boldly asserted medical ideas that were at odds with most learned physicians. In this fascinating book, Lauren Kassell vividly recovers the world of medicine and magic in Elizabethan London.

"Kassell's close study of Forman's writings, sensitivity to context, and wide familiarity with his sources and contemporaries has paid dividends with a rich sense of Forman's person and activities, and their relation to the world." --Renaissance Quarterly

Introduction

Part 1: The Making of an Astrologer Physician

1. Early Life and Learning

2. Astronomy, Magic, and the Mathematical Practitioners of London

3. How to Write Like a Magus

Part 2: Plague and the College of Physicians of London

4. The College of Physicians and Irregular Medicine c.1580-1640

5. Plague and Paracelsianism

Part 3: The Casebooks

6. How to Read the Casebooks

7. Gender, Authority, and Astrology

Part 4: Alchemy, Magic, and Medicine

8. 'Of Cako', or the Medical Uses of Antimony

9. The Food of Angels

10. Magic and Medicine

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index