[Historiographical correspondences: towards an anthropological and medical reading of epistolarity in the enlightenment].

Abstract

Analysing the contents of letters exchanged by patients in the 18th century, this chapter aims to demonstrate the capacity of such sources to offer both contextual information on medical practices and first hand information on patient strategies to retrieve and maintain their health. The letter is sometimes closer to the events than other texts and hence, more precise. Series of letters sent by the same author to different addressees can be used to reveal something of the meaning construed around patients' choices. Letters sent over long distances reveal variations in medical practices in different spatial contexts. In short, the letter, as a historical document, is an important key to lay medical culture.