The general dispensatory, containing a translation of the pharmacopoeias of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London and Edinburgh

Dispensatories are unofficial pharmacopoeias containing compositions, preparations, and uses of medicinal substances. A pharmacopoeia is usually an official publication of a government, but a dispensatory can be gathered, edited and published by an individual. Brookes’ General Dispensatory was a translation of the official and classic Scottish and English pharmacopoeias of the day. It is important because by the early 1800s the Dublin, Edinburgh, and London pharmacopoeias had all merged into what would become officially the British Pharmacopoeia, thereby losing any regional and national differences. This was an early combination of two of the aforementioned three. Richard Brookes (1721-1763) was an English physician and author of compilations and translations on medicine, surgery, natural history, etc. He was also, at one time, a rural practitioner in Surrey. By 1762 he had travelled both to American and to Africa. One of his most famous works is only nominally medical in nature: The Natural History of Chocolate (1724), from the French Histoire Naturelle du Cacao et du Sucre (1719).

Condition and treatment: This is an 18th century full leather binding. There are handwritten inscriptions on the endsheets that date to 1758. Aside from the first flyleaf, which is fully detached, the textblock in in good condition with original red speckled edges and red and white sewn silk endbands, however, the cover is in severe condition. The leather is heavily worn and abraded, and the detached cover has been previously repaired with brown electrical tape. Conservation staff will remove the electrical tape and reattach the covers with a more sympathetic and non-damaging repair, preserving as much of the original leather as possible. The missing upper leather endcap will be rebuilt and the leather consolidated overall. The textblock will also be surface cleaned to remove accumulated dirt and soot, and the flyleaf will be reunited with the text. The book will be housed in a cloth covered clamshell with an integrated cradle.