Juliana Márquez
Class of 2024, Johns Hopkins University
First published in 1676 in London, Severall Chirurgicall Treatises is a surgery book written by the Sergeant-surgeon to King Charles II, Richard Wiseman (bap. 1620?-1676). This 608-page folio is divided into eight treatises. It was intended to summarize the knowledge of all the “eminent chirurgicall authors” and instruct other surgeons through case observations. Topics covered by this book include tumors, ulcers, fractures and luxations, gunshot wounds, venereal disease, and the King’s Evil (or scrofula), a disease thought by Wiseman—who was a Royalist—to be cured by the touch of the King. Wiseman summarizes the causes and signs of each ailment and gives instructions to other surgeons on how to define a patient’s prognosis. He then suggests treatments according to the features of each patient’s illness and cautions surgeons of complications that may arise.
Wiseman summarizes the causes, signs, and cures for each ailment, and emphasizes that the writing of this book was mostly “conformed” to his “own judgment and experience”.[1] In the epistle to the reader, he “recommended his observations, both unsuccessful and successful, to increase the knowledge of the profession”, claiming there was often more to be learned from an “unfortunate case” than a “fortunate one”.[2] The case observations in Severall Chirurgicall Treatises stand out to scholars due to Wiseman’s reference of other practitioners he collaborated with in his practice, including 36 physicians, 9 surgeons, 3 apprentices, 2 dentists, and 3 instrument-makers. Among the physicians mentioned by Wiseman are Thomas Willis and Francis Glisson. The book ends with an index of all the case observations mentioned in each chapter.
The title of Severall Chirurgicall Treatises was changed to Eight Chirurgical Treatises in 1696. In 1719, its format was changed from a folio to an octavo and it was divided into two volumes. There are a total of six editions, the last of which was published in 1734—fifty-eight years after Wiseman’s death.[3] It is thought that this book was advertised and read by medical students in England as late as 1743, showing the relevance of Wiseman’s work even after his death.
[1] Richard Wiseman, Severall chirurgicall treatises. By Richard Wiseman, serjeant-chirurgeon…, (London: printed by E. Flesher and J. Macock, for R. Royston bookseller to His most sacred Majesty, and B. Took at the Ship in St. Paul’s Church-yard, anno Dom. 1676), a1r.
[2] Wiseman, Severall Chirurgicall Treatises, a2r, a3v.
[3] Kirkup, “Vicary Lecture, 1976. The tercentenary of Richard Wiseman’s” Severall Chirurgicall Treatises”,” 275-276.
Further Reading:
Kirkup, John, “Vicary Lecture, 1976. The tercentenary of Richard Wiseman’s” Severall Chirurgicall Treatises””, Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 59:4 (1977), 271-283
McVaugh, Michael, “Richard Wiseman and the Medical Practitioners of Restoration London”, Journal of the History of Medicine and Applied Sciences, 62:2 (2007), 125-140