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  • Eighteenth-Century Colonial Formularies: The Manuscripts of George de Benneville and Abraham Wagner
  • Mitchell Lewis Hammond
Eighteenth-Century Colonial Formularies: The Manuscripts of George de Benneville and Abraham Wagner. College of Physicians of Philadelphia. http://contentdm.collphyphil.org/formularies

This Web site provides unique and valuable access to the compilations of two physicians who practiced in rural Pennsylvania between 1740 and 1780. The works are a 149-folio formulary compiled by George de Benneville, entitled Medicina Pensylvania [sic], and a 200-page record of practice and "receptures" by Abraham Wagner, entitled Remediorum Specimina aliquot ex praxi A. W[agner]. Combining complete page-by-page facsimiles with searchable translations and transcriptions, the site illustrates the range of chemiatric and botanical resources available to rural American practitioners during the later eighteenth century, as well as the significance of international ties in the development of colonial medicine.

The project is an outgrowth of Renate Wilson's important monograph Pious Traders in Medicine (2000), which documents the international trade in pharmaceuticals [End Page 569] between the north-German town of Halle and emigrants to North America. Coordinated by Pietist philanthropists under the leadership of August Hermann Francke, the trade network penetrated German-speaking communities throughout the colonies and provided an important link between medical and religious contexts in the Old World and practices in early America. Wagner and de Benneville did not participate in the network directly, but their careers were informed by similar transatlantic ties and training in Pietist religious communities. Consistent with the style of medicine fostered from Halle, they favored many chemiatric preparations and resorted to bloodletting less often than did many other colonial practitioners. While the precise audience for whom these works were intended is unclear, the detailed content of the recipes suggests that they were meant primarily as guides for dispensing practitioners rather than as domestic self-help manuals. The simples and composita reflect the influence of both English and Continental pharmacopeias and show a marked preference for Paracelsian remedies. De Benneville's manuscript, written with German and English on facing pages, is a carefully prepared compendium, while Wagner's German manuscript bears the marks of successive revisions, perhaps over several generations.

Developed by a leading scholar and associated experts in German studies and early modern medicine, this site meets a high standard of reliability for advanced researchers. For each digitized manuscript the images are listed in sequence by page number down the left side of the screen. Buttons at the top enable translations, transcriptions, and searches, although some trial and error is necessary to determine what search terms are supported. Three substantial essays introduce the two manuscripts and the context of colonial medical practice. An extensive bibliography lists printed primary sources and secondary literature concerning early modern medicine, the chemiatric tradition, and German migration to North America. Additional technical notes address the problem of variant spellings and other editorial issues associated with the digital presentation of manuscripts. In its current form, the site's careful attention to faithful reproduction comes somewhat at the expense of practicality for more casual users who might wish to investigate medical care along various themes. For example, Wagner intersperses his recipes with clinical notes and observations concerning epidemics, but there is no obvious way to access this material from the flow of the manuscript. The pages have been scanned in black and white and cannot be enlarged, meaning that all but the eagle-eyed must rely on the transcriptions rather than consulting the manuscripts directly.

Despite these aspects of presentation, the manuscripts will reward careful attention from scholars studying early modern medicine or German immigration to North America in the eighteenth century. The supporting essays and resource material are valuable in their own right for any researcher seeking a more general introduction to these topics. The site suggests the wide range of sources for early American medicine, both intellectual and material, which await fuller exploration.

Mitchell Lewis Hammond
University of Victoria (Canada)
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