{related_entries id="evnt_auth_1"} {/related_entries}

William Buchan’s Domestic Medicine was the book an 18th-century Briton would have turned to if they were struck by illness. The Scottish physician recommended cow dung for some common ailments, prescribed crushed oyster shells for heartburn and counted powdered Spanish fly and genital trusses among his stranger bits of advice. Nevertheless, some of it still holds true today. Historical non-fiction writer Melanie King will discuss this new version of Buchan’s work which she has edited.

King worked on a horse farm in Australia, did voluntary work with victims of torture in London and travelled widely in Asia before settling in Oxfordshire as a writer. Her works include The Dying Game: A Curious History of Death and Prophets, Seers and Visionaries.