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  1650s

Early medical notes   [1650s?]

Location:   Bodleian Library, MS. Locke e. 4.

Description:   Miscellaneous medical notes, including prescriptions, some from Locke’s family and neighbours in Somerset; Other prescriptions date from his early years at Oxford and are attributed to Richard Lower (p. 16, 24-25, 136) and John Bathurst (p. 141). Later notes reflect Locke’s reading of works from the Oxford medical curriculum.

Inside the front cover is the date[?] “52”; the first page is inscribed “Farrago | John Locke | [paraph] | Agnis Locke ” (presumably Locke’s mother Agnes); the date “Feb. 6, 1654/5” appears on p. 144. However, most of the material dates from 1657 or later, and probably records Locke’s initial explorations in medicine. The earliest parts are on pp. 1-25 and p. 165-158 rev. (beginning from the back of the notebook).

Publications:

1. [selections:] “An Oxford medical student’s notebook, 1652-1659” / Kenneth Dewhurst. // IN: Oxford Medical School gazette. – 11 (1959):141-145. – Dewhurst’s dates are not reliable.

Discussions:   Dewhurst, publication #1 above.