Crafting Medicine: Artisans, Knowledge, and the Common Man in Hieronymus Brunschwig's Books on Surgery and Distillation

How an early modern surgeon and his accessible writings changed medical expertise and the communication of medical knowledge.

Between 1497 and 1512, Hieronymus Brunschwig (ca. 1450-ca. 1530), an obscure craftsman from Strasbourg, wrote books on surgery and pharmacy that transformed medical expertise, how it was codified in print, and how it was communicated to new audiences. Brunschwig was an unlikely author. He apprenticed as a surgeon in the local guild and dispensed medicines from his ...