Book Reviews
Abstract
The London Journal, Vol. 31, No. 2, November 2006, 223–227 L. KASSELL, Medicine and Magic in Elizabethan London. Simon Forman: Astrologer, Alchemist, and Physician. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2005. xviii+281 pages, index. ISBN 0199279055. £50.00 Hardback. Of all London’s inhabitants at the turn of the sixteenth century, Simon Forman remains one of the most interesting and controversial. As a magician, astrologer, doctor, alche- mist, philanderer, controversialist and memoirist, the many sides to his life resist definition. He saw himself as a victim, believing that he was divinely ordained to be an astrologer and physician. To those who opposed him, he was a quack and charlatan, who abused the hopes, health, and fortune of those foolish enough to consult him. Forman has been the subject of studies by A. L. Rowse and more recently Barbara Traister, each built on the enormous bulk of his manuscripts, held in the Ashmolean collection in the Bodleian Library. In this significant new study, Lauren Kassell takes a different approach. By focusing on his activities in the occult sciences, astrology and physic rather than his life and sexuality, she carefully delineates Forman’s fascinating place in the world of magic and health. The book is organized around