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1603Sir Walter Raleigh's notes
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1604First English dictionary
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1605Letter about Guy Fawkes
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1605Gunpowder Plot conspirators
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1605The head of Guy Fawkes
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1608Shakespeare's King Lear
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1610The Globe Theatre
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1611King James Bible
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1617Surgeons' tools
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1623Chinese globe
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1623Shakespeare's First Folio
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1636Lotus Sutra
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1640Witch hunting
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1643English Civil War scenes
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1649Execution of Charles I
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1649Agreement of the People
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1649Charles I's executioner
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1650Early A - Z of London
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1650Advert for a quack doctor
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1660Oliver Cromwell as the Devil
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1665A cure for the Plague
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1665Robert Hooke, Micrographia
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1666Great Fire of London map
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1666Great Fire of London
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1666Wren's plans after the fire
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1669Theatrical figures
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1674Dictionary of criminal slang
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1674Games and pastimes
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1679Habeas Corpus Act
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1679Map of the moon
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1684A London Rhinoceros
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1685Henry Purcell
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1690Locke's Two Treatises
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1693East India Company
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1693Account of a shipwreck
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1698Map of South America
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Intro
This illustration comes from 'The Surgion's Mate', a book for surgeons working on the trading ships owned by the East India Company; Britain’s most powerful trading organisation. The book gives advice on medicines and cures, and on operations such as tooth-drawing, blood-letting and the amputation of limbs!
Voyages taken by the Company to Asia to trade goods such as spices, fabrics, tea and porcelain could take many months. While these trips were profitable, they were also very dangerous. As well as crew and passengers, the ship carried soldiers and cannons to defend itself against foreign enemies or pirates. There were extreme weather conditions to contend with, which brought about shocking and widely reported shipwrecks. The lack of hygiene was also dangerous to the crew.
Shelfmark: c.123.e.9.
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