A History of Epidemics in Great Britain from A.D. 664 to the Extinction of Plague

Abstract

THE task undertaken by Dr. Charles Creighton in writing a history of epidemics in Britain from 664 (the year of the first pestilence recorded by an authority that can be regarded as contemporary) to the extinction of plague is one of enormous difficulty. The materials for such a history must be sought for high and low; chance allusions in private letters or municipal records will supply links in the chain of evidence for which the writings of the medical authorities of the time may be searched in vain, if indeed there be any medical authorities; and Dr. Creighton found that for his purposes “medical books proper are hardly available … until the end of the Elizabethan period, … and do not begin to be really important … until shortly before the date at which” his present labours end. When such evidence as can be found has been found and sifted, there still remains the most intricate problem of all—that of tracing the epidemics recorded to their origin, accounting for their spread, and in some cases explaining why a country should in modern times be spared diseases which scourged it in the Middle Ages.

A History of Epidemics in Great Britain from A.D. 664 to the Extinction of Plague.

By Charles Creighton (Cambridge: University Press, 1891.)