The Charitable Pestmaster; Or, The Cure of the Plague

In this compact, first‑person treatise the author, a practising physician of mid‑17th‑century London, lays out a straightforward plan for keeping the plague at bay and treating those already afflicted. He blends moral counsel—pleading for repentance and clean living—with a checklist of practical steps: avoiding foul air, steering clear of certain foods, and using a handful of readily available remedies such as crocus infusion and oxymel. The tone is earnest and aimed at both the poor who can afford little and the wealthier who might support charitable distribution.

The work is organized into three short chapters, each presenting a different aspect of disease prevention, from dietary warnings to procedures for induced vomiting and sweating. It also includes a brief appendix on small‑pox care, reflecting the overlapping health crises of the era. Listeners will hear an authentic slice of early modern medical thought, complete with the author’s pleas for professional oversight and his hope that these modest instructions might spare lives in a city under siege by contagion.