Autore
Rankin, Alisha

Titolo
The housewife's apothecary in early modern Austria: Wolfgang Helmhard von Hohberg's Georgica curiosa (1682)
Periodico
Medicina & Storia (Online)
Anno: 2008 - Volume: 8 - Fascicolo: 15 - Pagina iniziale: 55 - Pagina finale: 76

This article addresses the role of women in directing household and estate medical care. Specifically, it examines the household apothecary as depicted in Baron Wolfgang Helmhard von Hohberg’s Georgica curiosa (1682), one of the most extensive and successful seventeenth-century housefather books. While most housefather books are directed at the master of the house, Hohberg included an entire book for the mistress of the house. Over two thirds of that book deal with the medical care of the estate, which he put firmly in the hands of the housemother. He directed the mistress to put together a “small, serviceable apothecary,” he listed dozens of ingredients and medicines that she should keep to hand, and he included an extensive collection of medicinal recipes. Many of Hohberg’s directives to the housemother were drawn from other housefather books and agricultural manuals, particularly Olivier de Serres’s Théâtre d’agriculture. However, his collection of medicinal recipes was a departure from precedent, as it drew simple recipes from the works of various famous physicians and surgeons. Rather than reflecting the current state of medical care at estates in Lower Austria, Georgica curiosa represents an idealized picture of what Hohberg felt the housewife’s medical repertoire ought to be.



SICI: 1828-6224(2008)8:15<55:THAIEM>2.0.ZU;2-S
Testo completo: http://www.fupress.net/index.php/mes/article/download/10391/9597
Testo completo alternativo: http://www.fupress.net/index.php/mes/article/download/10391/9665

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