Making Medicines in Early Colonial Lima, Peru

Linda A. Newson, PhD (1971) in Geography, University College London, is Director of the Institute of Latin Americana Studies, University of London. She is author of six monographs and two edited volumes, including (with Susie Minchin) From Capture to Sale: The Portuguese Slave Trade to Spanish South America in the Early Seventeenth Century (Brill, 2009).

"Thanks to Making Medicines, scholars can now approach such issues with far greater clarity and specificity than they could have otherwise. The book will be a key point of reference for future studies not only on the Viceroyalty of Peru but in colonial Latin America." - Hugh Cagle, in: Journal of Latin American Studies 51:1 (2019): 233-235"This rich social history promises to make Spanish colonial pharmacies both comprehensible and engaging. Students of history, science, technology, and medicine will appreciate its premodern perspective and the complex layers connecting religion, society, and medical practice. This book is not only at the forefront of histories investigating medicine and society in colonial Latin America, but it is also a model in the balance of archival work, analysis, and accessible prose." - Kathleen Kole de Peralta, in: The Americas, 76:1 (2019): 171-173"[E]n mi opinión, Making Medicines in Early Colonial Lima es una contribución indispensable que nos permite profundizar sobre la relación entre el poder y el saber; entre dominio de larga distancia y poderes locales. Una contribución que nos convoca a emprender nuevos estudios comparativos entre Perú y la Nueva España que nos ayuden a revelar por qué, a pesar de que ambos territorios se rigieron por la misma cultura jurídica española, construyeron culturas médicas distintas, pero, sobre todo, reconocer que en los espacios coloniales se verificaron diversas culturas médicas que mantuvieron intercambios permanentes, aunque esta diversidad no siempre resulte obvia o visible a través de la documentación." - Angélica Morales Sarabia, in: Dynamis, 39:1 (2019): 235-266

• AcknowledgmentsList of IllustrationsAbbreviations1 Medicines: Empire, Science and SocietyMedicine and EmpirePractices of Medicine Medicine and Science Practitioners of Medicine Prospectus 2 Learning to Make MedicinesMakers of Medicines Education and Practical Training Apothecaries from Spain University Medical Education Preparatory Schooling Educational Opportunities for Non-Elites On the Job Training Examinations and Licences Female Medical Learning Conclusion 3 The Medicines BusinessAcquiring a Botica The Premises Employing Pharmacy Workers Indian Forced LabourersBlack Pharmacy Workers Running a Pharmacy Conclusion 4 Trading Medicines and Materia MedicaOrganisation of the Transatlantic Trade Apothecaries, Pepperers and Spicers The Transatlantic Trade in Materia Medica The Intercolonial Trade in Materia Medica Acquiring Materia Medica Locally Conclusion 5 Selecting Materia Medica Humoralism Scholarly Scientific Explorations Paracelsianism Maintaining Medical Orthodoxy The Regulation of Pharmacies The Impact of the Counter Reformation and Inquisition The Circulation of Medical Texts Conclusion 6 Making Medicines Types of Medicines Preparing Medicines Pharmacy Methods and Equipment Categories of Medicines Using Purgatives and Emetics Using Native Plants A Few Experiments Explaining the Failure to Adopt Native Botanical Materia Medica A Medical Marketplace? Using Minerals and Chemicals Conclusion 7 The Social World of Apothecaries The Status of the Medical Profession The Middling Professional Status of the Apothecary Criticisms of the Medical Profession The Christian Calling of an Apothecary Projecting Professionalism Conclusion 8 Persistent Practices Accounting for the Prevalence of Humoral Medicine Accounting for the Slow Adoption of Experimental Methods Part 2: AppendicesAppendix A Books Shipped from Spain by the Apothecary Juan Sánchez in 1591 Appendix B List of Materia Medica Found in Pharmacies in Spain and Lima Appendix C Books Shipped from Spain to Doctor Melchor de Amusco in Nombre de Dios, 1584 Glossary Bibliography