Sacred Medicine

Mead, Richard, 1673-1754Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8

Word count: 147K words
Chapters: 15

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Medica Sacra by Richard MeadAuthor: Mead, Richard, 1673-1754,Language: English, Class: RC: Medicine: Internal medicine, Release Date: Feb 7, 2010

Editor's review

Medica Sacra is a collection of medical essays written in the 18th century by the English physician Richard Mead, a work from the period when early modern medicine met classical scholarship. Mead, a former president of the Royal Society, discusses diseases, miracles, and natural explanations related to biblical texts, showing how an Enlightenment physician used medical knowledge to reinterpret ancient records. Its value lies not in modern clinical guidance but in the tension it reveals between medical history and the interpretation of religious texts, giving readers a view of the questions and argumentative methods of doctors before modern medicine took shape. The text is in English and not long, but it cites many classical sources, so some background knowledge is needed. It suits reading as primary material for the history of medicine, the history of religion, or 18th-century intellectual history, and is also good for curious readers browsing the Western classical medical tradition. The Project Gutenberg edition is easy to search and cross-reference, making it convenient for researchers to locate passages quickly on electronic devices.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University students and scholars studying the history of medicine or 18th-century intellectual history
Readers interested in the relationship between biblical texts and medical interpretation
Enthusiasts who wish to engage with primary sources in the Western classical medical tradition

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking modern clinical medical knowledge or diagnostic and treatment advice
Readers with limited English reading ability or unfamiliarity with early modern English expression

Reading tips

Read the introduction or table of contents first to understand the specific texts and themes Mead discusses, then choose chapters for close reading
Read alongside background material on medical history or the Enlightenment, skipping classical citations at first to grasp the main lines of argument
Use the electronic edition to search keywords and cross-reference relevant biblical passages for thematic reading

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for clinical doctors?

It is not suitable as a clinical reference. It discusses 18th-century physicians' interpretations of disease records in ancient texts and is a work of medical history; it contains no modern diagnostic methods or drug information.

What language proficiency is needed to read it?

The original is in English and cites many classical sources, with features of early modern English. University-level English reading ability is enough to read it through, but understanding the details of the arguments requires some background in Western classical and religious texts.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

This edition is a free electronic text that is easy to search, copy, and read across devices. It suits researchers who need to locate passages quickly and also lets general readers access the primary text at no cost.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Mead, Richard, 1673-1754 Author

Richard Mead (1673–1754) was an English physician whose writings had a certain influence on eighteenth-century European medicine and public health. Four of his works are held here, dealing with toxicology, plague, and religious medicine. A Mechanical Account of Poisons in Several Essays explains the action of poisons in mechanical terms, reflecting the period's reliance on mechanical models in medicine; A Short Discourse Concerning Pestilential Contagion, and the Methods to Be Used and A Discourse on the Plague examine the transmission and prevention of plague, discussing practical measures such as quarantine and sanitation; Medica Sacra considers the diseases recorded in the Bible from a medical standpoint. These works are mostly essays and short treatises addressed to physicians and educated readers, stressing natural explanations of disease. Because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted here.