Thread by @_RHCollection

I’ve got a real treasure today for anyone interested in medicine, recipes, and/or women’s books: a copy of Culpepper’s English Physician, published by a woman and owned by two sisters! Read through for a special treasure… 1/
#herbook

Hannah Sawbridge was born into the book trade, the daughter of booksellers Edward and Ellen Brewster. When Edward died, Ellen carried on the business, partnering with George Sawbridge, who Hannah married. 2/

Just like her mother before her, after her husband’s death, Hannah continued to operate their hugely successful operation. She published this “enlarged” edition of The English Physitian in 1683. 3/

This copy was owned by a woman named Mary Boucher; it went to her sister Sarah Stephenson, possibly after Mary’s death, and Sarah inscribed it in 1756. 4/

And remember that treasure I mentioned? Tucked into the book was a loose sheet with a recipe. The handwriting doesn’t match Sarah’s, so it may have been written by Mary. Here’s what I’ve deciphered:
5/

One hand full of Broad plants
One of bryst leaves
One of ocken leaves of ye kind
One of straberry leaves
One of prymrose leaves
And brown sage
Bouill this in ___quarter of ki__ waks & with one quarton of rock alom bouild ___ in

[That last bit gave me trouble – any thoughts?] 6/

I haven’t figured out what “Broad plants” and “bryst leaves” (for “breast”?) refer to specifically, but I have looked up the other ingredients. Oak, strawberry, and primrose leaves, brown sage, and rock alum were all used, among other things, as astringents, to stop bleeding. 7/

The uses were often related to menstruation, pregnancy, or gynecological issues. Oak leaves were deployed in cases of “suffocation of the mother,” a sense of shortness of breath attributed to corrupt menstrual blood. Strawberry leaves could be used to stop menstruation. 8/

Brown sage was used to regulate menstruation, to conceive, to stop miscarriage, & as an abortifacient. Culpepper only mentions its use in cases of stillbirth or retained placenta, but presumably it could “bringeth down Womens courses” in cases of unwanted pregnancies as well. 9/

Alum has been used to stop bleeding since antiquity. Primrose leaves were commonly used in salves for wounds. Perhaps, if I’m correct in taking “waks” for “wax,” this was a sort of salve applied to staunch excessive bleeding, either from menstruation or childbirth? 10/

Maybe I’m writing the story to suit my own desires here, but I love the idea of one sister passing along this kind of recipe to another. What do y’all think? I’d love to hear from people with more knowledge about this! 11/11