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A page in full

Figure

MS Ashmole 411, f. 96v. Copyright Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 2011.

This is an example of what a full text diplomatic transcription of a complete page from one of Forman’s casebooks (MS Ashmole 411, f. 96v) would look like, complete with charts and other astrological data, judgments, and treatments. Typically for Forman, the page features four cases, one in the top left, one in the bottom left, one in the top right, and the fourth in the bottom left. The first two (on the left half of the page) are an horary question and a nativity, both for the infant Thomas Colford, who is ‘fairy pinched’ (has unexplained marks on his body). A list of suspects is included. The other two cases are horary questions for Mr Digby (a regular customer), who is concerned about ‘turb[a]’ (impending trouble of a non-medical nature), and for Elizabeth Saick, who, Forman judges, is troubled with ‘the mother [i.e. womb] rising in her stomack’, and for whom he prescribes a purge.

Thomas Colford of 15 wick old 1601 the 8 of Iune p m’ 30 p 12 Diz / |the child prsent| in harp stret bi pi corner

  • Ihon colford 40/
  • mari letman 35
  • phillip solmes.
  • Leonard solmes

  • Ihon do{ucne}s yt was tormented/
Figure

Luna s a ap

yt is of in sept a .

yt is feyri pinched in dyuers places of the body

mr Digby 1601 the 8 Iun p m’ at 30 p 4 turb nc n

Figure

Luna spt a p |A| p et post .

  • ap
  • ap
  • ap.
  • at 11 dies

Tak head on dai and till 12 Dais be past./

This child was born 1601 the 20 of februari ante m’ at 5. london/

Figure

Luna s a ap /

  • s
  • ap
  • ap

in suo term.

igrin

Elizabeth S{aick} of 30 years 1601 the 9 of Iune in m’ at 12 Diz. of hacknei/

Figure

Luna sept a est vac post p

  • ap
  • ap
  • ap

yt is of in sept a in

yt is the mother rising in her stomack redy to vomit pain in the back {of} moch sande/ pain head/ belly she hath not her course well. the whit moch water in her stomack ferfull

prpare 3 Dais & purg then sc{o}ur her mat{rix}

Cite this as: Lauren Kassell, Michael Hawkins, Robert Ralley, and John Young, ‘A page in full’, A Critical Introduction to the Casebooks of Simon Forman and Richard Napier, 1596–1634, https://casebooks.lib.cam.ac.uk/reading-the-casebooks/the-manuscripts/a-page-in-full, accessed 19 March 2024.