Book Description

The first edition of Robert Recorde's 'The Urinal of Physick' was printed in London, at the sign of the Brazen Serpent, by Reynolde Wolfe in 1547. It remained in print for over 130 years, the final edition appearing in 1679 as 'The Judgment of Urines'. The work is an early urological treatise, concerned with the practice of making diagnoses by inspecting the patient's urine. Its pages are full of sensible nursing practice in accordance with the mores of the time and the teachings of classical authors such as Hippocrates, Galen, Avicenna and others. Recorde was a physician at the courts of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I; he was also a very learned scholar and mathematician, a teacher of outstanding ability and a skilful textbook writer. He graduated B.A. from Oxford in 1531 and was subsequently licensed by the university to practice medicine. He received an M.D. degree from Cambridge in 1545, thus entitling him to the honorifics of Doctor and Physician. 'The Urinal of Physick' is dedicated to the Wardens and Company of the Surgeons of London, and Recorde signs the dedication “At my house in London. 8 Novemb. 1547”, so he was probably practicing medicine in the city by this date. The book is written in English, rather than scholarly Latin.