Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us! And while it can be a time of joy for many, for some it is
Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us! And while it can be a time of joy for many, for some it is more bittersweet, recalling memories of past heartache. If you fall into the latter camp this year, don’t fret—we uncovered the remedy you might need in an old manuscript recipe book.“A Cure for Love” was penned on one page of this 19th century Collection of Useful Receipts, a handwritten book containing recipes for food as well as home remedies for various diseases and conditions. And while some of the directions might be a tad difficult to follow, we’ve been assured that this cure is the best around:Take a gram of sence [sense] half a gram of Prudence a dram of understanding one ounce of patience a pound of resolution and a Handful of Dislike intermix them all together fold them up in the [???] brick of your brain there let themstand for twenty four howers [hours] then set them on the slowfire of hatred Straing [?] it clean from the dregs of Melon--colly [melancholy] sweetning it with forgetfulness putting it in the Bottleof your heart stop[p]ing it down with a cork of sound judgmentthere let it stand fourteen days in the water of cold Afflictionthis rightly made and fully ap[p]lied is the most effectunate [effectual?]remedy in the universe you may have it at the house of under--standing in constant street by going up the hill of self denialIn the town of forgetfullness in the County of LoveThis cure for love appears alongside many other medical remedies, including ointments for “warts and corns” and a supposed cure for smallpox. Whoever created this manuscript apparently considered love a very serious condition indeed.http://catalog.lib.msu.edu/record=b10316781~S39a~Andrew -- source link
#valentines day#heartbreak#home remedy#recipe book#manuscripts#19th century#msulibraries#special collections