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Gilbert Skeyne, 1568

The only known copy of the first medical book printed in Scotland, Gilbert Skeyne's Ane breve descriptioun of the pest (Edinburgh, 1568). It describes the plague that broke out in Edinburgh in 1568, and is a serious attempt to spread advice (most of it is therefore in Scots) on avoiding infection and on its treatment. Although there are references to hygiene, the image shows that at this date 'the principal preservative cure of the pest is, to returne to God'. Gilbert Skeyne was a doctor from Aberdeen who in 1581 became Physician to King James VI.

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