A new exploration of the secular manuscripts and medieval medical texts
associated with the York Guild and its members.
Produced in 1486 and subsequently augmented, the Guild Book of the
Barbers and Surgeons of York (British Library Egerton MS 2572) is a
unique record of the knowledge, ambitions, activities and civic
relationships maintained by the Barbers and Surgeons Guild over a period
of 300 years. The manuscript's earliest folios contain images,
astrological tracts, a plague treatise and a bloodletting poem. To these
were added early modern ordinances and oaths, a series of royal
portraits, and the names of the Guild's masters and apprentices. 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 which 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 contextualisation of the form and
content of the manuscript, the book articulates ideas about material
culture and the ceremonial role of secular manuscripts whilst shedding
new light on the dissemination and status of medieval medical texts.
