Dr Simon Forman

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Charismatic, volatile and ambitious, Simon Forman rose from a poor country upbringing in Wiltshire, via a slave-apprenticeship in Salisbury and a spell as a servant in Oxford to become one of the wealthiest doctors in London. He was doctor to the giants of the theatre and his 'playbook' contains the first eye-witness accounts of Shakespeare's plays. Like most doctors he also cast horoscopes for all and sundry: from soldiers, courtiers and sailors to women on the look-out for marriage. On the fringes of intrigues at Court, he was linked to Sir Walter Raleigh's 'School of the Night' and to the famous Overbury poisoning case, starring the beautiful Countess of Essex. This lively account of his life sees him denounced as a quack, a crank, and an astrologer who used black magic - yet his meticulous case-notes are now a key source for Elizabethan medicine. Judith Cook also reveals his private life, deciphering, for the first time, his intimate coded diary detailing all his law cases and battles with the establishment and particularly his hectic sex life, a record of promiscuity as vivid as Pepys or Bowell. (One of his affairs was with Elizabeth Lanier, perhaps the 'Dark lady' of Shakespeare's sonnets.) A gripping life of a strange and forceful man and an unforgettable picture of all sides of London life.

Reviews

Brilliant, written with wit and relish, packed with detail * The Times *
Judith Cook writes lucidly about Forman and his idiosyncrasies... Her knowledge of the period is extensive and places this strange and fascinating man convincingly in his dramatic times * Daily Mail *
An intriguing and lively study * Independent on Sunday *
Her research is thorough and intriguing... Her book enters teh Elizabethan world in media res so that th reader is immediately surrounded by it * The Times *

Author Bio

Judith Cook spent the first part of her career as an investigative journalist. She wrote several non-fiction books on social issues, including an investigation into the death of the anti-nuclear compaigner Hilda Murrell. She was herself a political and anti-nuclear campaigner. She also wrote biographies of Daphne du Maurier and J. B. Priestley, a popular historical fiction series and theatre scripts. She later taught Elizabethan and Jacobean studies at Exeter University. She died in May 2004.