A digital edition of Simon Forman’s & Richard Napier’s medical records 1596–1634

Most portrayals of astrologers at work are satirical. This project takes seriously the encounters between the astrologer and his clients. ‘Credulous lady & astrologer’, a colour stipple-engraving by Pierre Simon after John Raphael Smith, c. 1800.

Wellcome Library, London

Simon Forman, the notorious London astrologer, recorded 10,000

consultations between 1596 and 1603. Most of these are medical.

Forman’s casebooks can now be searched by name (of any party

involved), date, sex, age, topic of consultation and many other

criteria. The edition includes images of all the manuscript pages of

Forman’s first volume, and more will follow soon at:

http://www.magicandmedicine.hps.cam.ac.uk

Please send feedback to Dr Lauren Kassell

Department of History & Philosophy of Science

about how you are using the site–and about

how you would like to be able to use it.

hps-casebooks@lists.cam.ac.uk