Yale University Library News

The Early Modern Pharmacy: Drugs, Recipes, and Apothecaries, 1500-1800

An apothecary carrying medicines on his body.
March 27, 2018

What did a pharmacy look like in Europe, between 1500 and 1800? What kind of activities took place within its walls? Who were the pharmacists? What kind of drugs did they make, and where did the ingredients come from? This exhibit, organized by the students in Professor Paola Bertucci's undergraduate seminar Collecting Nature and Art with the collaboration of Sarah Pickman, engages with these questions. It shows that, in the early modern period, collecting recipes and making medicines were common household activities carried out by women, while apothecaries often became targets of satire. The exhibit focuses also on a number of American ingredients, like coffee, cocoa, tobacco and chocolate, initially regarded as potential cure-alls, and on the mythical mandrake.

Opening reception April 2nd at 5:15 in the Rotunda of the Medical Library. The exhibit runs through April 2 - July 5, at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library.

External link: