Secrets and Knowledge in Medicine and Science, 1500-1800

Secrets played a central role in transformations in medical and scientific knowledge in early modern Europe. As a new fascination with novelty began to take hold from the late fifteenth century, Europeans thirsted for previously unknown details about the natural world: new plants, animals, and other objects from nature, new recipes for medical and alchemical procedures, new knowledge about the human body, and new facts about the way nature worked. These 'secrets' became popular items of commerce and trade, as the quest for new and exclusive bits of information met the vibrant early modern marketplace. Whether disclosed widely in print or kept more circumspect in manuscripts, secrets helped drive an expanding interest in acquiring knowledge throughout early modern Europe. Bringing together international scholars, this volume provides a pan-European and interdisciplinary overview on the topic. Each essay offers significant new interpretations of the role played by secrets in their area of specialization. Chapters address key themes in early modern history and the history of medicine, science and technology including: the possession, circulation and exchange of secret knowledge across Europe; alchemical secrets and laboratory processes; patronage and the upper-class market for secrets; medical secrets and the emerging market for proprietary medicines; secrets and cosmetics; secrets and the body and finally gender and secrets.

Elaine Leong, University of Cambridge, UK, and Alisha Rankin, Tufts University, USA

Chapter 1 Introduction Secrets and Knowledge, Elaine Leong, Alisha Rankin; Part I Defining Secrets; Chapter 1a How to Read a Book of Secrets, William Eamon; Chapter 2 What is a Secret? Secrets and Craft Knowledge in Early Modern Europe, Pamela H. Smith; Part II Secrecy and Openness; Chapter 3 The Secrets of Sir Hugh Platt, Ayesha Mukherjee; Chapter 4 Robert Boyle and Secrecy, Michael Hunter; Chapter 5 Openness vs. Secrecy in the Hartlib Circle: Revisiting 'Democratic Baconianism' in Interregnum England, Michelle DiMeo; Part III Illicit Secrets; Chapter 6 Anna Zieglerin's Alchemical Revelations, Tara Nummedal; Chapter 7 Face Waters, Oils, Love Magic and Poison: Making and Selling Secrets in Early Modern Rome, Tessa Storey; Part IV Secrets and Health; Chapter 8 Keeping Beauty Secrets in Early Modern Iberia, Montserrat Cabré; Chapter 9 Secrets to Healthy Living: The Revival of the Preventive Paradigm in Late Renaissance Italy, Sandra Cavallo; Chapter 10 Secrets of Place: The Medical Casebooks of Vivant-Augustin Ganiare, Lisa Wynne Smith;