Useful Books: Reading Vernacular Regimens in Sixteenth-Century England

Recent scholarship has tended to emphasize the practical dimensions of book-use. Yet early modern books were also meant to be pondered over as well as “used.” Some of the clearest advice on the benefits of ruminative reading comes from an unexpected source, prefaces to the print commonplace books compiled by physicians, and such advice helps us to rethink how seemingly practical books, like vernacular regimens, were read. Focusing on the regimens of the humanist Thomas Elyot and the physician Thomas Cogan, I argue that these books encourage thoughtful as well as more practically-orientated reading.