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Chapter 1 Early Modern English Trade in New World Drugs New World Drugs in England’s Early Empire Katrina Elizabeth Maydom Abstract How were New World drugs received and understood in early modern England? In the seventeenth century, England’s first empire was being established and an increasing abundance of medicinal plants arrived in London from across the Atlantic. In this thesis, I argue that commercial and political imperatives drove the production, trade and consumption of New World medicines. I explore trends in the drug trade across the early modern period to identify how the scale and diversity of American medicines fluctuated in the English market. I recognise a critical juncture in the 1650s with a change in political institutions and the collapse of the colonial tobacco economy. In the case of Virginia, merchants and colonial statesmen advised the Parliamentarian government on new forms of plantation governance and economic development. Their recommendations included investment in perceived lucrative new commodities, such as sassafras, sarsaparilla and other medicinal plants. As the supply of American drugs expanded in the English market from the 1650s to the 1680s, medical writers became more engaged in the recommendation of New World medicaments for the treatment of diseases, including scurvy and venereal diseases. I consider the process of knowledge negotiation and commercial policymaking in issues surrounding the trade, propagation and transplantation of American medicinal plants into England during the late seventeenth century. The availability and consumption of New World drugs became commonplace by the early eighteenth century, and they could even be accessed by schoolboys and pensioners at charitable institutions. To formulate this narrative, I employ an integrated historical approach, drawing from economic, colonial, intellectual and medical history. I examine customs records, first-hand colonial accounts, printed books and pamphlets, manuscript commonplace books, letters, prescription lists and medical journals. This study contributes to research programmes on English colonial development, global commodities, the Columbian exchange and the early modern medical marketplace. New World Drugs in England’s Early Empire Katrina Elizabeth Maydom Saint Edmund’s College Department of History and Philosophy of Science University of Cambridge This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2018 i Declaration This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It does not exceed the prescribed word limit for the relevant Degree Committee. ii Acknowledgements I am immensely appreciative of the encouragement and guidance of my PhD supervisors, Professor Lauren Kassell and Dr Emma Spary, who supported me from the doctoral funding application to the final copy of the thesis. I am grateful to the Wellcome Trust for funding my PhD research with a medical humanities doctoral studentship. I would also like to thank the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge for a PhD completion grant. Dr Andrew Wear encouraged my thesis project since its inception during my Master’s degree at UCL and Imperial College. He very kindly provided me with extensive and instructive feedback on several of my thesis chapters. I am indebted to the generosity of Professor Patrick Wallis, who shared his trade dataset with me that formed the basis of the chapter on the American drug trade, and he provided me with very insightful comments and support during my doctoral research. I am very grateful to my examiners, Dr Dániel Margócsy and Professor Markman Ellis, who closely read my thesis and provided excellent, constructive feedback for its improvement. I am appreciative of the members of the Early Science and Medicine Group at the University of Cambridge for their helpful feedback on the chapter on the production of drugs in Virginia. My thesis also benefited from the comments of participants at several conferences and seminars, including: Materia Medica on the Move I & II, Remembering James Petiver, British Group of Early American Historians, History of Science Society and the Cabinet of Natural History. I would like to thank my husband, Dr Barry Maydom, for his tireless generosity, inspiration and support in completing this thesis. iii Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 1 Nature, Politics and Empire in Early Modern Europe ................................................................................. 7 The Medical Marketplace for New World Drugs ......................................................................................11 The Global Circulation of Things ...............................................................................................................14 The Adoption of New World Drugs in Early Modern England ..................................................................17 Structure of the Thesis..............................................................................................................................25 Chapter 1: Early Modern English Trade in New World Drugs .......................................................................27 Sources on the New World Drug Trade ....................................................................................................30 Source Selection ...................................................................................................................................30 Description of the Sources ...................................................................................................................31 Limitations of the Sources ....................................................................................................................33 Methods ...............................................................................................................................................35 Which Drugs Were Imported into England from the Americas? ..............................................................36 Exports of New World Drugs from England to Europe .............................................................................47 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................50 Chapter 2: Commodifying the Commonwealth: Producing Drugs in Virginia ..............................................53 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................53 English Trade with its American Colonies, 1620-1660 .............................................................................55 Accounts of Natural Commodities in Later Seventeenth-Century Virginia ..............................................60 Reasons for the Fallow Years of the Virginia Plantation ...........................................................................69 Advice for the Recovery of the Virginia Colony ........................................................................................74 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................80 Chapter 3: The Reception of a New World Drug: 100 Years of Sassafras in English Print ............................82 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................82 A Longitudinal Analysis of New World Drugs in Early Modern English Print ............................................88 Sassafras as a Case Study .....................................................................................................................88 Sources .................................................................................................................................................91 Methods ...............................................................................................................................................94 Who Wrote About Sassafras, When and In What Context? .....................................................................97 Sassafras as a Commodity in Geographical and Travel Accounts ...........................................................109 Fake and Adulterated Sassafras .........................................................................................................110 Locations of Exotic Drugs: Where was Sassafras From? .........................................................................112 Knowing through the Senses and Comparisons with the Familiar .........................................................115
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