RCP unveils new exhibition: ‘Healing Words: The unofficial story of medical practice in England 1500–1800’

The exhibition, open until 25 July 2025, is housed at the RCP's award-winning building in London, and invites visitors to explore the unique role recipe books have played in shaping medical knowledge, domestic healthcare, and the art of healing.

Healing Words reveals how ordinary households used recipe books to document and share knowledge about treatments and cures. The exhibition features rare manuscripts and recipe collections that shed light on early medical practices, family traditions, and the blend of science and folk knowledge in the creation of health remedies.

Recipe books served as essential resources for households, often blending science, nature, and traditional wisdom. These texts preserved knowledge about herbs, spices, and plants, providing insights into early forms of pharmacy and healthcare.

In the exhibition, visitors will find examples of beautifully handwritten family recipe books and illustrated medical texts, reflecting the personal and communal nature of medical care of this period.

Commenting on the exhibition, Pamela Forde, RCP archives manager and lead curator of Healing Words, said: “This exhibition takes a critical look at the established narratives around ‘unofficial’ or ‘domestic’ medical practice in England in previous centuries, as documented in medical recipe books.

“The completion of a long-term project to digitize and provide full online access to these volumes has not only meant they can be shared with global audiences. It has also led to us re-examining these texts and confirming that the medical practice outlined in the recipes or receipts was often sourced from contemporary medical authorities and based on the same principles and theories.

“Given that formally trained physicians often diagnosed from a distance, while local healers usually saw patients in person, the local healers may have had better understanding of the symptoms displayed by the people they were treating. I invite you to visit (online or in person) and be challenged by a fresh understanding of community medicine in the early modern period.”

Exhibition Highlights

• Rare Recipe Books: The exhibition features a curated selection of centuries-old recipe books, including herbal remedies, early pharmaceutical recipes, and homemade treatments for various ailments.
• Culinary Medicine: Discover how food and medicine were often intertwined, with many recipes combining culinary ingredients with therapeutic purposes.
• Women's Role in Medicine: The exhibition highlights the critical contributions of women as custodians of household health, many of whom created, collected, and passed down recipe books through generations.

Events

A series of themed events will run alongside the exhibition including late openings, workshops and lectures. This year, at the RCP's Museum Lates, each month visitors can freely explore the exhibition after hours with special curator introductions, hands-on activities and displays from the RCP’s Medicinal Garden. This October half-term the RCP Museum will host a special children’s workshop with author and educator Michael Holland where participants will be invited to get up close to minibeasts in a workshop to explore the role of insects in medicine. In November the RCP Museum will host an Autumn lectures evening, hearing from researchers using recipe books to discover life in the early modern period. In December, visitors can join the RCP garden team for a hands-on workshop exploring the uses of herbs featured in the exhibition and taste and create their own tea blends using plants grown in the medicinal garden.

Visitor Information

Healing Words is open until 25 July 2025 at the Royal College of Physicians at Regents Park. Admission is free, and special workshops and events will take place throughout the exhibition’s duration, offering visitors a deeper understanding of historical recipes and their relevance to modern medical practices.