Robert Boyle's 'Memoirs for the natural history of human blood' (1684): print, manuscript and the impact of Baconianism in seventeenth-century medical science

Abstract

Robert Boyle's 'Memoirs for the natural history of human blood', which appeared in its first and only edition in 1684, is a well-known but much misunderstood book. In this paper, we will argue that a consideration of its history before and after its publication is not only significant in itself but also does much to enhance our understanding of Boyle's intellectual method, and especially the implications of his commitment to Baconianism and his attitude to print as a medium