The Guild Book of the Barbers and Surgeons of York (British Library, Egerton MS 2572): Study and Edition

The Guild Book of the Barbers and Surgeons of York (British Library Egerton MS 2572) is a rare survival of late medieval medical knowledge placed within a civic context. It contains images, astrological tracts, a plague treatise, a bloodletting poem, early modern ordinances, oaths, royal portraits, and the names of the Guild's masters and apprentices. This new multi-disciplinary examination of the York Guild Book presents a comprehensive edition of its content and a detailed study of the creation and use of this fascinating manuscript. It articulates ideas about material culture and the ceremonial role of secular manuscripts and sheds new light on the dissemination and status of medieval medical texts.

Format: Hardback
Length: 382 pages
Publication date: 17 December 2021
Publisher: York Medieval Press

A fresh examination of the secular manuscripts and medieval medical texts associated with the York Guild and its members is presented here. The Guild Book of the Barbers and Surgeons of York (British Library Egerton MS 2572), which was first published in 1486 and later expanded, is a singular chronicle of the knowledge, aspirations, activities, and civic connections upheld by the Barbers and Surgeons Guild over a span of 300 years. The manuscript's first folios feature images, astrological tracts, a plague treatise, and a bloodletting poem. Early modern ordinances and oaths, a series of royal portraits, and the names of the Guild's masters and apprentices were subsequently added. It is a rare survival of late medieval medical knowledge placed within a civic context. This new multi-disciplinary examination of the York Guild Book presents a comprehensive edition of its content and a detailed study of the creation and use of this fascinating manuscript. The York Guild Book was not owned by any one person but was intended to be representative of the types of manuscripts the Guild's members might have individually possessed. The Guild's commission elevated their manuscript's functional content into something that could be proudly owned and displayed, as is demonstrated by the stylishly executed pen and ink drawings, two of which are possibly unique. Through a contextualization of the form and content of the manuscript, the book articulates ideas about material culture and the ceremonial role of secular manuscripts while shedding new light on the dissemination and status of medieval medical texts.

Weight: 842g
Dimension: 176 x 247 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781914049026