James Jurin (1684-1750) occupied a central place in the medical and scientific circles of Augustan and Georgian England. His dispassionate yet forceful advocacy of smallpox inoculation using an innovative statistical approach brought him widespread recognition both in Britain and abroad. He was Secretary to the Royal Society for seven years and participated vigorously in the most important scientific debates of the period. Jurin's correspondence, recently made available to the public, provides rich material for the study of eighteenth-century natural philosophy and medicine, especially of the smallpox inoculation debates. This volume reproduces a broad and valuable selection of letters, as well as a list of Jurin's publications and a calendar of the complete correspondence. The introductory biographical essay describes how Jurin combined a career as a successful London physician with that of a natural philosopher.

"The final work by the late historian Helen Brock, this definitive new edition makes the correspondence of Dr William Hunter (1718-83) available for the first time. Born in Scotland, William Hunter pursued an extensive medical education in Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and Paris. He settled in London where he made his name as an anatomist and obstetrician before being elected to the Royal Society in 1767. He was a knowledgeable collector. He bequeathed his anatomical and pathological preparations, natural history specimens, antiquities, paintings, and extensive library to the University of Glasgow where they now form the Hunterian Museum. Hunter's admiration for Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawings in the Royal Collection sparked the eighteenth century fashion for collecting his works on paper. Hunter's prominent position in London's scientific and artistic circles, his extensive medical and connoisseurial contacts in Scotland and Europe, and his network of students, make his correspondence a unique record of the Enlightenment. This edition presents all of his known correspondence, drawing upon archives around the world. The letters are presented chronologically and interspersed with new editorial material to create a fascinating narrative about this important era of medical and scientific discovery."--Publisher's description.

The story of the rise and fall of smallpox, one of the most savage killers in the history of mankind, and the only disease ever to be successfully exterminated (30 years ago next year) by a public health campaign.

This book illuminates a lesser-known aspect of the British history of travel in the Enlightenment: that of the Royal Society’s special contribution to the “discovery” of the south of Italy in the age of the Grand Tour. By exploring primary source journal entries of philosophy and travel, the book provides evidence of how the Society helped raise the Fellows’ curiosity about the Mediterranean and encouraged travel to the region by promoting cultural events there and establishing fruitful relations with major Italian academic institutions. They were especially devoted to revealing the natural and artistic riches of the Bourbon Kingdom from 1738 to 1780, during which the Roman city of Herculaneum was discovered and Vesuvius and Etna were actively eruptive. Through these examples, the book draws attention to the role that the Royal Society played in establishing cultural networks in Italy and beyond. Tracing a complex path starting in Restoration times, this new insight into discourse on learned travel contributes to a more challenging vision of Anglo-Italian relations in the Enlightenment.