The Dreaded Pox
Sex and Disease in Early Modern London
Book •
Olivia Weisser's 'The Dreaded Pox' examines how venereal disease shaped social life, medicine and public discourse in early modern London.
Drawing on casebooks, pamphlets and personal accounts, the book traces experiences of sufferers from elite to marginalized communities and how treatments and moral responses evolved.
It situates the pox within wider urban networks of care, commerce and gossip, revealing intersections of sexuality, gender and power.
Weisser highlights both the practical and symbolic ways the disease influenced social relationships, work and identity.
The book contributes to histories of disease by centering lived experience and the cultural meanings attributed to infection.
Drawing on casebooks, pamphlets and personal accounts, the book traces experiences of sufferers from elite to marginalized communities and how treatments and moral responses evolved.
It situates the pox within wider urban networks of care, commerce and gossip, revealing intersections of sexuality, gender and power.
Weisser highlights both the practical and symbolic ways the disease influenced social relationships, work and identity.
The book contributes to histories of disease by centering lived experience and the cultural meanings attributed to infection.
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