Beekeeping, the plague and tips for housewives: the advice manuals of yesteryear
‘How-to’ literature is here to stay. The genre ranges from tips on how to combat chronic procrastination to astrophysics for dummies and is a prized reference source for people tackling New Year’s resolutions, if nothing else. A good time, then, for us to showcase a variety of publications dispensing advice – starting with beekeeping (for those seeking a hobby in 2015)!
‘The Fundaments of Apiculture’ appeared in 1773 in Berlin. And hope on the part of the author is writ large in the book’s opening sentence: ‘Necessity and shortage famously beget invention, and, with everyone feeling the weight of common needs, all are gripped by the urge to play their part in reducing general adversity.’ With this reference to the recent famines of his time (presumably the famine in Saxony and the Lausitz region triggered by the flooding and cold, wet weather of 1771/72), the author puts forward honey production as a solution to the food shortage. We now know that it was the subsequent increase in potato cultivation that proved more effective in helping the local population to feed itself, but this manual had the bees as the principal actors.
From its general observations on bees and the best sites for ‘bee houses’ to its tips on buying bees and its references to the hive’s ‘grandest of enemies’, the mouse, the would-be beekeeper is provided with a wealth of additional information on the practice and difficulties of keeping bees.
Almost a century earlier Laurentius Gieseler, a doctor from Brunswick, wrote a book dispensing advice on how to tackle the plague: ‘A short/ but sorely-needed set of instructions/ on how to treat and cure oneself/ of this pernicious,/ dangerous and rampant plague./ In grateful acknowledgement of the laudable decree promulgated by the honourable authorities of Brunswick’ (1680).
Gieseler identifies two forms of plague – one sent by God and one transmitted by air, via ‘vapours’. Gieseler expresses the hope that people are not afflicted by the first; in the second form of the disease he makes the following recommendations: ‘Markets selling/ garden fruits and stook merchandise/ should be cleaned/ every evening./ Likewise the buildings/ used for the slaughter of cattle in large numbers,/ whose blood often runs out of the building and down the alley in copious quantities/ creating a stench/ that is harmful, should be rinsed with fresh water/ and the alleys cleansed of all muck.’ (p. 7)
One tome guaranteed to raise a smile today is ‘The Able Housewife: a guide for all women and would-be women’ of 1891. Unencumbered by modesty, the author announces that if he is ‘taking on this small task it is predicated on my conviction that I can provide a service to women by setting out all the skills and knowledge that, in my estimation, go to make an efficient housewife. I believe that many a young wife will discover in the following pages clues as to why her household is not as comfortable and inviting as she would like it to be and why she is unable, despite strenuous efforts, to keep to budget and is always at odds with her husband because of it…’ (p. VI). Sadly, we do not know if the book sold well.
The ‘Alphabetical Pocketbook of Common Remedies for People Suddenly in Peril of their Lives and Those Appearing Dead’, 1796, by Vincent Adalbert Zarda, self-published, offers laypeople advice on how to assist the seriously injured using medicines and surgical intervention. The second section is devoted to an alphabetically organised description of medical emergencies ranging from conjunctivitis and epilepsy to injuries sustained when falling from a great height. A fascinating document for those interested in the history of medicine. Highly recommended!
Other advice and ‘How-to’ publications in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek:
Taschenbuch für Kammerjungfern, Kammerfrauen, Kammerdienerinnen, und Stubenmädchens (1776)
Kleiner Ratgeber für Leute, die den Friedhof lieb haben : christliche Grabschriften (1885)