Beyond Home Remedy: Women, Medicine, and Science
Beyond Home Remedy: Women, Medicine, and Science one of the Exhibitions at the Folger opened January 21, 2011 and closed on May 14, 2011. The exhibition was curated by Rebecca Laroche with Georgianna Ziegler. Consultation was provided by Steven Turner and Leslie K. Overstreet with the generous loans and contributions of the Smithsonian Institution. Major support for this exhibition is provided by the Winton and Carolyn Blount exhibition fund of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
This exhibition explores women's roles in early modern medicine through the records they left in recipe books, their ownership marks in books by male authorities, and other evidences of their labors as caregivers and healers. While some of the ingredients and methods women used may seem strange to modern sensibilities, the elaborate nature of the recipes women prepared and shared with one another demonstrate the female contribution to early modern medicine and scientific discovery.
Contents of the exhibition
Recipe: Sirrop of Violets
Recipe: "For the overflowing of them"
Recipe: "An excellent balsame"
Recipe: Plague Water
Supplemental materials
Interactive: Remedy Ingredients
Explore ingredients used by clicking through items in this virtual display case.