Domestic Medicine in an Early Eighteenth-Century Manuscript, GUL, Ferguson MS 43

Abstract

This article delves into Early Modern English1 manuscript domestic medicine with special
attention to a recipe compilation, Glasgow, University Library, Ferguson MS 43. Household
recipe books were an important repository of practical medical knowledge for families.
Recipe collections were often brought by women to their new households upon marriage,
and were subsequently passed down through generations, highlighting the significant role
that women played in the production and dissemination of household practical knowledge.
Ferguson MS 43, attributed to Lady Stanhope, showcases the female recipe collections’
ability to provide valuable information regarding eighteenth-century domestic medical
practice and, more specifically, women’s contribution to it. The manuscript physical characteristics
and its contents are analysed to place the text in its proper social, cultural and
linguistic context as a representative instance of the recipe genre.