Renaissance Secrets: Recipes and Formulas

From recipes for aphrodisiacs to formulas for everything from lip balm to stain removers to paint pigments, this book unveils the secret world of Renaissance lotions and potions. Clothbound with marbled endpapers and superbly illustrated with relevant objects from the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Renaissance Secrets reveals a myriad of concoctions once used to create medicines, cosmetics, printing materials, even amulets meant to ward off the plague.

New and extensive research offers intriguing insights into the use of obscure, exotic and toxic ingredients and explains now-unfamiliar or arcane techniques. Renaissance Secrets reveals the compelling stories behind the original recipes.

Jo Wheeler lives and works in London. He received his PhD from the University of Warwick, England. He has published on neighborhood and local loyalties, as well as stench and disease in Renaissance Venice.