Call Number:

Ms. Codex 2233

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1 volume(s)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Colonel Cooper recipe book, circa 1814, Ms. Codex 2233, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

circa 1814

Form:

Codices (bound manuscripts)

Abstract:

This volume contains over 140 pharmaceutical and household recipes written and compiled by Colonel Cooper in England around 1814.

Nothing is known about the volume's creator, Colonel Cooper, other than that they were active in England around 1814.

A recipe for Daffy's Elixir is included in the volume. Daffy's Elixir, developed by clergyman Thomas Daffy of Redmile, Leicestershire in the mid-to-late 17th century, was originally a cure for stomach-related illness but was later seen as a "universal cure."

This volume also contains recipes for Dover's powder and Goulard's wash. Dover's powder was used to treat a cold or fever and was created by Thomas Dover in the 18th century. Goulard's extract is a lead subacetate solution used to treat bruises and sprains. It was designed by Thomas Goulard and was used as an astringent in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

Sources:

Fleming, Lindsay. "Daffy's Elixir." Notes and Queries, vol. Volume CXCVIII, 1953, pp. 238-240, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/CXCVIII.jun.238

"The New International Encyclopædia/Dover's Powder." Wikisource, the Free Online Library, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 6 Jan. 2022, en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_New_International_Encyclop%C3%A6dia/Dover%27s_Powder.

Thomson, Thomas (1810). A System of Chemistry. London: Bell & Bradfute. pp. v. 3, p. 275. Goulard's Extract.

This volume contains around 140 medicinal and personal care recipes written and compiled by Colonel Cooper in England around 1814.

It is bound in full leather and has two indices (p. 51-53, 150-157) and several blank pages (p. 91-149). The first portion of the volume contains numbered pharmaceutical recipes followed by a list of ailments that include descriptions and treatments that reference the numbered recipes (p. 2-50). The latter portion of the volume contains unnumbered recipes (p. 56-90).

Examples of recipes in this volume include fever powder (p. 2), Dover's mixture (p. 4), mercurial purging pills (p. 5), laudanum poultice (p. 10), Goulard's wash (p. 13), Madame de Brivasa's plaister for ulcers (p. 58), Mr. Beaumont's receipt against the plague (p. 60), Daffy's elixir (p. 61), spermaceti ointment (p. 72), Dr. Drummond's wormpowder (p. 74), and Loutherbourg's powder (p. 86).

Examples of the ailments described include lumbago or violent pain in the loins (p. 19), smallpox (p. 25), St. Anthony's fire (p. 29), colic (p. 36), croup (p. 44), and teething (p. 46).

Several of the recipes are attributed to individuals including Sir J. Pringles (p. 57), Lady Torrington (p. 57), and Sir James Earle (p. 57).