Article ID: CBB282611227

James Petiver's Apothecary Practice and the Consumption of American Drugs in Early Modern London (2020)

unapi

In the late seventeenth century, there was a boom in English imports of drugs from the Americas, such as sassafras, guaiacum and sarsaparilla. This was a result of a wider increase in colonial trade, the English acquisition of new drug-producing territories, such as Jamaica, and a broader trend towards greater medical consumption of drugs. How were these American drugs received in early modern English medicine? James Petiver (1665–1718), an apothecary in London, incorporated these drugs in his retail trade and institutional care. Analysis of Petiver's medical receipt books, daily prescription journals and administrative records demonstrates that American drugs, such as Virginia snakeroot, guaiacum and jalap, were readily accessible and dispensed to patients of all social classes in London by the turn of the eighteenth century. One-third of Petiver's private patients and one-fifth of his institutional patients were treated with American drugs. While men, women and children were all routinely prescribed American drugs, a greater variety of these drugs were available to his retail clients.

...More
Included in

Article Richard Coulton (2020) ‘What he hath gather'd together shall not be lost’: remembering James Petiver. Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science (pp. 189-211). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB282611227/

Similar Citations

Article Murphy, Kathleen S.; (2013)
Collecting Slave Traders: James Petiver, Natural History, and the British Slave Trade (/isis/citation/CBB001320636/)

Article Richard Coulton; (2020)
‘What he hath gather'd together shall not be lost’: remembering James Petiver (/isis/citation/CBB303861168/)

Article Simpson, Marcus B., Jr.; Simpson, Sallie W.; (2008)
John Lawson's A New Voyage to Carolina: Notes on the Publication History of the London (1709) Edition (/isis/citation/CBB000931217/)

Article Alice Marples; (2020)
James Petiver's ‘Joynt-Stock’: Middling Agency in Urban Collecting Networks (/isis/citation/CBB208759889/)

Article Michael J. G. Farthing; (2015)
Nicholas Culpeper (1616–1654): London’s First General Practitioner? (/isis/citation/CBB597505449/)

Article Paulina Oszajca; (2018)
Trocisci viperini nelle preparazioni teriacali (/isis/citation/CBB964007541/)

Article Carmen Caccioppoli; Gennaro Rispoli; (2018)
Nell'antica spezieria degli Incurabili: dall'alchimia alla chimica nel segno dei secreta (/isis/citation/CBB650805690/)

Article Ernesto Riva; Carla Camana; (2016)
"L'arte dello speziale" di Francesco Sirena (/isis/citation/CBB373887061/)

Article Rodríguez-Guerrero, José; (2008-2009)
La Primera Gran Red Comercial de un Medicamento chymico: Vittorio Algarotti y su Quintaesencia del Oro Medicinal (/isis/citation/CBB001021307/)

Authors & Contributors
Oszajca, Paulina
Murphy, Kathleen S.
Caccioppoli, Carmen
Rispoli, Gennaro
Vannucci, Laura
Sean David Parrish
Concepts
Apothecaries
Pharmacy
Medicine
Natural history
Specimen exchange
Great Britain, colonies
Time Periods
17th century
18th century
16th century
Renaissance
Early modern
19th century
Places
Italy
London (England)
Bologna (Italy)
Florence (Italy)
Venice (Italy)
Great Britain
Institutions
Society of Apothecaries, London
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment