Letter 2264

Beckett is writing a book on the origins of venereal disease in England. Of particular interest to him is the method by which the authorities identify women suffering from such diseases, as described in one of his sources: ‘The 19th Chapter doth show of Burning of an Harlot, where his notion of Communication the Burning is very particular, he thinks that is the Harlot or Hoore doth hold in her breth and clapse her hands together and toes in like manner that this is sufficient to give the person Burning’. Beckett details his findings and observations. William Beckett was a surgeon, Fellow of the Royal Society, and founding member of the Society of Antiquaries. He presented papers to the Royal Society, published in the Philosophical Transactions, and authored several books (Sidney Lee, Becket, William (16841738), rev. Michael Bevan, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1900, accessed 11 Aug 2011]).