The Casebooks Project

The Casebooks Project makes the richest set of surviving medical records before 1750 publicly available through cutting edge digital resources. Simon Forman and Richard Napier, two of England's most famous astrologers, recorded 85,000 consultations between 1596 and 1634. These records are difficult to use because they are inscribed within an astrological framework and written in messy, antiquated handwriting. The Casebooks Project presents an edition of the records which can be searched and browsed, with facilities for sophisticated navigation and interrogation of the data. An image archive of 7,000 pages of the manuscripts (a quarter of the total pages) is also included on the site. The project makes encounters between the astrologer-physicians and thousands of ordinary people who were worried about their health and well-being accessible as never before.

The Casebooks Project works in conjunction with the Bodleain Library, which is a partner to the project. The Wellcome Trust sponsors this digital endeavor.