The Notorious Astrological Physician of London: Works and Days of Simon Forman

273 Pages·2001·13.7 MB·English

by  Barbara Howard Traister

The Notorious Astrological Physician
of London
~

The
Notorious Astrological
Ph ysician of London
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
WORKS AND DAYS OF
,Simon I10nnan
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~
Barbara Howard Traister
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago 6 London
BARBARA HOWARD TRAISTER is professor of English at Lehigh University. She is the
author of Heavenly Necromancers: The Magician in Early Renaissance Drama.
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, CHICAGO 60637
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, LTD., LONDON
© 2001 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2001
Printed in the United States of America
0908070605040302 011 2 345
ISBN: 0-226-81140-9 (cloth)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Traister, Barbara Howard.
The notorious astrological physician of London: works and days of
Simon Forman / Barbara Howard Traister.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-226-81140-9 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Forman, Simon, 1552-1611. 2. Physicians-England-Biography.
I. Title.
R489.F585 T73 2001
610'.92-dc21 00-009585
@ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
As
ALWAYS, FOR DAN, REBECCA, AND AARON

RCONTENTSR
List of Dlustrations
IX
Introduction
XI
ONE
A Self-Conscious Life 3
TWO
Medical Theories: A Physician Evolves 31
T H R E E
Forman's London Practice 56
F 0 U R
Troubles with the College of Physicians 81
F I V E
Forman's Occultism 97
S I X
Forman and His Books
120
S EVE N
Forman in Society 145
E I G H T
Forman and Public Events 173
}vn{
Appendix
191
Notes 203
Bibliography 235
Index 243
} VIII {
m
ILLUSTRATIONSm
FIGURES
1: The Forman family 9
2: Forman coat of arms 12
3: Forman's memcallicense from Cambridge University 29
4: Map of London and Lambeth 88
5: Casebook page, showing Archbishop Whitgift's case 91
6: Lamin designed by Forman for a patient 100
7: Forman's tracing of his right hand 102
8: Alchemical vessels 112-113
9: Forman's diagram of the cycles of human time 138
10: Forman's portrait 168
TABLES
1: Forman's medical and astrological practice 59
2: Age and gender of Forman's medical patients 63
}IX{