John Ellis
Class of 2025, Johns Hopkins University
Gideon Harvey was a Dutch-born physician in England known for his writings on venereal disease. Fifteen years after its initial publication in 1670, the fifth edition of Little Venus unmask’d is Harvey’s most concise, comprehensive treatment of the French Pox. This treatise abridges Harvey’s longer writings on the same disease and focuses on clear descriptions and empirical observations so that even young, inexperienced practitioners can use this book as an essential field guide. This text was written in response to the prevalence of the French Pox in London, and Harvey proves his credibility on the topic by appealing to his extensive experience with sufferers of the disease.
Harvey claims that the sufferer’s symptoms were tied to geographic location, and specific places were known for certain kinds of pox. For example, Harvey noticed that in Holland, sufferers tended to experience “Night-pains” whereas those in Italy tended to experience “rotten bones.” Therefore, the text is split up into sections each dealing with a different “strain” of the French Pox, and Harvey prescribes a distinct remedy for each one. This structure allows readers to quickly diagnose the illness and prescribe a detailed course of treatment tailored to the particular display of symptoms. Hence, Harvey believes that his is the preeminent guide for information about the French Pox, and he asserts himself as the ultimate authority on the subject.
The format of the book is duodecimo, which was a cheap and reliable choice conducive to portability and frequent use. It was sold by publisher and bookseller James Partridge at his shop between Charing-Cross and Whitehall in 1685, and the copy held at Johns Hopkins University was donated by Dr. Louise Pearce, M.D. Class of 1912. This copy does not have any noticeable marginalia beyond a small signature on the frontispiece by a Dominican friar with the surname Martin. Harvey would write at least one more version of Little Venus unmask’d before his death, with the sixth and most recent edition published in 1700.
Further Reading:
Wallis, Patrick, “Gideon Harvey”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, January 3 2008, Oxford University Press. https://doi-org.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/10.1093/ref:odnb/12519.
Weisser, Olivia, “Concepts of Contagion in Gideon Harvey’s Great Venus Unmasked,” Harvard Library Bulletin, 2021, Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College. https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37368753.