Oh My Poor Nerves! - Health and hypochondria in Jane Austen's England
A fascinating insight into maladies real and imaginary, with a splendid selection of medical artefacts and a very spirited invalid!
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Lucy: This talk focuses on an often overlooked period in the history of healthcare, giving an overview of living conditions in late Georgian England that hardly squares with our usual picturesque view of Regency life. Details of home cures, quack remedies and crude surgery highlight the battle between science and superstition, putting the later medical advances into context. For those who feel faint after viewing a pregnancy corset or the leech jar, I do have plenty of 'infallible' Regency advice for good health and long life. And sal volatile. |
| "I laughed so hard I had to have a little lie-down afterwards!"
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