Abstract

Simon Forman, as Barbara Howard Traister puts it, “turned himself into text”: an obsessive writer, he left a cache of manuscripts, some of which—like the earliest surviving chronological case records—are of great historical value. Some of Forman's manuscripts are autobiographical, and it is for the more intimate details of his life that Forman has been known in recent years. He is “notorious” today largely for his sex life, being the subject of A. L. Rowse's well‐known study, Simon Forman: Sex and Society in Shakespeare's Age . But Traister looks at Forman's manuscripts in their entirety, and the bulk of her book considers the intellectual and professional aspects of his medical and astrological practice. This provides a welcome counterweight to Rowse's account of Forman as well as some corrections to the fleeting and often misleading impressions given in other secondary literature.In so far as Forman's professional life is known, it is as a charlatan who preyed on the gullible to acquire fame, money, and sexual favors. From Traister's account there would seem to be a kernel of truth in this but a great deal of distortion too. Though by no means averse to taking payment “in kind” from the women he treated, Forman was a widely recognized authority on the diseases of women and his case notes show that he took his practice seriously. The same is true more generally of Forman's astrological practice , which was founded on a deep belief in the accuracy of astrological predictions. Indeed, Forman claimed that only through astrology could a physician successfully diagnose and treat disease.Forman was, however, a controversial figure in his own age, being “notorious” in the sense that he repeatedly fell foul of the London College of Physicians, which attempted to enforce its monopoly of medical practice in the English capital and its environs. Forman was brought before the college on several occasions for practicing without a license and received a number of fines and jail sentences for his repeated violations of the law. He was continually hounded and ridiculed by the college, partly because he was so successful. People—especially women—from all sections of English society came to consult Forman as a physician and astrologer, although it was largely for the former that he was venerated. Although he was mocked by the college for his ignorance of classical learning, Forman's medical knowledge was considerable, if not entirely systematic, though he lacked the necessary “polish” to present his knowledge in a manner acceptable to such a conservative body. Nevertheless, Forman's medical reputation was sufficiently impressive for him to be granted a license to practice by Cambridge University, after what was most likely a serious examination.Forman's case notes show that he worked within a largely Galenic framework, and most of his treatments aimed at restoring humoral equilibrium. But, like many other practitioners of the time, he embellished his practice with chemical drug therapies; and there is evidence that he incorporated Paracelsian ideas. His case notes are so valuable because they show Forman's knowledge and practice evolving steadily over time: a development that is evident, for example, in his writings on plague. His first essay on plague was composed during the London epidemic of 1593, his second during the outbreak of 1607. The former treated the disease astrologically and theologically, seeing the epidemic as a form of divine punishment for the sins of mankind. The second dealt with the physical nature of the disease and its immediate causes. The two works should not be seen as set in opposition to one another, for they dealt with different features of a complex web of causation, with the increasing concern related to natural causes typifying much of the writing on plague at this time. Growing familiarity with plague—which typically broke out in major cities every ten years or so—permitted closer observation of the disease as a natural phenomenon. Forman was well placed to do this because he remained in London during both outbreaks, a decision that did much to enhance his professional reputation and expand his clientele.The importance of Forman's manuscript collection ensures that this book will reach a wide readership, and few will be disappointed. The author writes clearly, with sophistication and insight, and avoids the anachronistic sensationalism of earlier accounts. As might be expected from the title, the book is especially enlightening about medical astrology, the dominant aspect of Forman's professional life. It is interesting to read this account alongside Michael MacDonald's study of Richard Napier—Mystical Bedlam: Madness, Anxiety, and Healing in Seventeenth Century England —for there are many areas of commonality as well as significant differences. All in all, this is a truly fascinating book. Historians of medicine and astrology will find much in it that is relevant to their own areas of specialization