Curing Toothache on the Stage? The Importance of Reading Pictures in Context

“… an eighteenth-century charlatan in soldier's uniform is about to extract a tooth with his sword. This method, which seems … exceedingly barbaric, was very popular.” Ring Malvin E. , Dentistry: An illustrated history (New York, 1985), 174.

Armelle Baron Pierre , L'Art dentaire à travers la peinture (Paris, 1986).

In the interests of clarity for the reader, I will continue to refer to the mountebank ‘toothdrawer’ — Although the use of inverted commas indicates that this describes someone who did not draw teeth by physical means.

Campbell J. M. , Dentistry then and now (Glasgow, 1981), 336.

A licence was granted by the Barber-Surgeons Company of London to William Thomlyn on 23 November 1557 “to drawe teethe and to make cleane teethe and no more”. Young S. , Annals of the Barber-Surgeons, 178, quoted by Hillam Christine , Brass plate and brazen impudence: Dental practice in the provinces, 1755–1855 (Liverpool, 1991), 10.

Hillam , op. cit. (ref. 5), 10.

Campbell , op. cit. (ref. 4), 337.

“The eighteenth century ushered in profound changes in the practice of dentistry, the impetus for which came from the scientific discoveries of the preceding century. Dentistry ultimately became an independent scientific discipline….”, Ring , op. cit. (ref. 1), 157. See also the chapter entitled “What about dental history?” in Campbell , op. cit. (ref. 4), 327–33.

Pagliarizzo Dottor Gratiano , Secreti nuovi e rari (Bologna and Milan, n.d.), quoted by Eamon William , Science and the secrets of nature: Books of secrets in medieval and early modern culture (Chichester, 1994), 240–1.

Eamon , op. cit. (ref. 9), 241.

Examples may be found in Baron , L'art dentaire à travers la peinture (ref. 2), including Le Marché en Italie, by Peter Bout and Adrien Boudewyns (p. 122), Scène de foire, by Faustino Bocchi (p. 126), Arracheur de dents sur une foire, by Christian Wilhelm Dietrich (p. 172), L'Arracheur de dents sur la Grand Place de Bruxelles, by Balthazar van den Bossche (p. 175), Le Charlatan, by Anton Maulpertsch (p. 178), Arlequin dentiste, by François Watteau (p. 179) and Le Charlatan, by Giandomenico Tiepolo (p. 187). There are also similar pictures to be found in Ring , Dentistry (ref. 1), such as an engraving of a German charlatan (p. 156) and Le Charlatan, à Paris (p. 175).

As in the picture shown at the start of this paper. Cotgrave's Dictionarie of the French and English tongues, 1611 (facsimile edn, Menston, 1968), defines a charlatan as “A cousening drug-seller, a pratling quack-salver, a tatler, babler, foolish prater, or commender of trifles”.

Baron , op. cit. (ref. 2), 175.

In any case, it would seem likely that if the charlatan or mountebank was going to pretend to remove teeth, thereby imitating the toothdrawer, he would also assume his title. In similar vein, Roy Porter has pointed out that the term ‘quack’ was applied only to others ( Porter Roy , Health for sale: Quackery in England, 1660–1850 (Manchester, 1989), 1).

Campbell , op. cit. (ref. 4), 337.

Each of the examples used in ref. 11 shows at least one of these elements.

Baron , op. cit. (ref. 2), 13.

For example, in Palizzi's Il Caccia-Mole in Carnevale the charlatan is brandishing before a crowd an entire animal's jaw, which he has supposedly just removed from a human mouth. Ring, op. cit. (ref. 1), 214.

Campbell , op. cit. (ref. 4), 337.

“Les charlatans … étaient de véritables nomades allant de foire en foire, accompagnés, souvent, de leur troupe théâtrale et de bateleurs; ils arrachaient les dents (ou faisaient semblant) et vendaient différents remèdes aux noms évocateurs ou mystérieux …”, Baron , op. cit. (ref. 2), 163–4. Baron notes here that there were ‘pretend’ extractions; but he states elsewhere that these were meant to entice the toothache sufferer onto the stage for a ‘real’ extraction (ibid., 12).

Caron P. Granier D. Morgenstern H. Vidal F. , Histoire d'un Diplôme (Le Chirurgien Dentiste de France, Paris, n.d. [c. 1993]), 22. The title of expert could be gained on submission to an examination by the officials of the local surgical comunauté. The holder of the title was permitted to practice no other branch of surgery than that in which he (or she) had been examined. For the statutes governing the practice and examination of the expert, see Franklin Alfred , La vie privée d'autrefois: Arts et métiers, modes, mœurs, usages des parisiens du xii^e au xviii^e siecle d'après des documents originaux ou inédits (Paris, 1894), p. xiv: Variétés chirurgicales, 208 and 176–7.

Ramsey Matthew , “Medical power and popular medicine: Illegal healers in nineteenth-century France”, in Branca P. (ed.), The medicine show: Patients, physicians and the perplexities of the health revolution in modern society (New York, 1977), 183–210, pp. 186–7.

Ramsey , op. cit. (ref. 22), 186.

Ibid., 187.

For example, in the 1770s, the fair at Beaucaire (which was held to be the largest in France) boasted “cent mille visiteurs par jour”. Margairaz Dominique , Foires et marchés dans la France préindustrielle (Paris, 1988), 102.

For perceptive research concerning the economics of French fairs and markets, see Margairaz , op. cit. (ref. 25): Perrot Jean-Claude , Genèse d'une ville moderne: Caen au XVIII^e siècle (Paris, 1975), vol. i, and Léon P. , “Vie et mort d'un grand marché international: La foire de Beaucaire (xviii^e–xix^e siècles)”, Revue de géographie de Lyon, xxviii (1953), 309–28.

Perrot , op. cit. (ref. 26), 474.

As at King's Lynn, each 2 February. Owen's Book of Fairs, being an authentic account of all the fairs in England and Wales, by Owen W. (6th edn, London, 1773). This book was first published in 1756 as An authentic account, published by the King's authority, of all the fairs in England and Wales.

According to Owen's Book of Fairs (ref. 28), in some areas, such as Essex, toy fairs were more common than any other kind.

The French word orviétan, describing a secret remedy or antidote, was also used in England — Samuel Johnson gave its meaning as “a medical composition or electuary, good against poison”. Johnson's Dictionary of the English language (London, 1755).

See, for example, the bottle offered by the female assistant to Le Charlatan, à Paris, at the head of this paper.

James R. , A medicinal dictionary, … together with a history of drugs (London, 1743). The “Lemery” referred to was the author of a pharmacopoeia.

Hooper , Lexicon medicum (4th edn, London, 1820).

Pomet Pierre , A compleat history of druggs, written in French by Monsieur Pomet, chief druggist to the late French King Lewis XIV (London, 1725), and James , op. cit. (ref. 32).

James , op. cit. (ref. 32).

Ibid.

Ibid.

Vidal , op. cit. (ref. 21), 4.

For example: “Tu prendras deux onces de roses rouges et les sera bouillir avec fort vinaigre l'espace d'un jour et d'une nuit. Après, les secheras, puis en seras fondre que mettras sur la dent, et elle tombera.” (taken from Les secrets du seigneur Alexis, 1691 edn, 351); and “Faites bouillir, puis réduisez en cendre des vers de terre; remplissez de cette poudre la dent creuse, et fermez-la avec de la cire. Elle tombera …” (taken from Fouquet Mme , Recueil de remèdes faciles et domestiques, 1678 edn). Both are quoted in Franklin , op. cit. (ref. 21), 139.

Hoffmann-Axthelm W. , History of dentistry (Chicago, 1981), 125.

Plenk J. J. , Lehre von den Krankheiten der Zähne und des Zahnfleisches , 1790, quoted by Hoffmann-Axthelm , op. cit. (ref. 40), 238.

Perrot , op. cit. (ref. 26), 468.

Ibid., 480.

See Goubert Jean-Pierre , “L'art de guérir: Médecine savante et médecine populaire dans la France de 1790”, Annales économies, sociétés, civilisations, v (1977), 908–26.

Common usage of ‘fair’ in present day England is generally taken to mean a travelling group of entertainments, each typically operated by the members of one family — Now also called a ‘funfair’. This is balanced by the ‘trade fair’, usually held indoors and offering exhibitions of services or products from one branch of industry.

Quoted by Starsmore Ian , English fairs (London, 1975), 13–14.

Such as Fielding's production of Molière's Le Médecin malgré lui at Bartholomew Fair in 1732. Starsmore , op. cit. (ref. 46), 16. In 1693, after a naval disaster in the bay of Lagos, an entire cast of players from Bartholomew Fair were imprisoned for commenting “to large applauding audiences, not only on the affairs of the Admiralty, but also on other departments of the State”. Morley Henry , Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair (London, 1859), 335.

Hackwood Frederick W. , Inns, ales and drinking customs of old England (London, 1987), 113.

Ibid., 151.

Caraccioli C. , An historical account of Sturbridge, Bury, and the most famous fairs in Europe and America; interspersed with anecdotes curious and entertaining (Cambridge, 1773), 21.

Johnson , op. cit. (ref. 30).

Caraccioli , op. cit. (ref. 50), 32.

Quoted by Morley , op. cit. (ref. 47), 359.

Franklin , op. cit. (ref. 21), 144.

Morley , op. cit. (ref. 47), 423.

Quoted by Hillam , op. cit. (ref. 5), 131.

Anon., The harangues or speeches of several famous mountebanks in town and country (London, n.d. [c. 1725]), 19.

Anon., Fun upon fun, or the humours of a fair, giving a description of the curious amusements in early life; also an account of a mountebank doctor and his Merry Andrew (Glasgow, n.d. [c. 1810]).

Fun upon fun (ref. 58), 12.

Ibid. , 32. Pictures of the Up-and-Down show a machine similar to the Ferris wheel of the modern fair, with boxes for the passengers to ride in. See ibid. , 33, or Morley , op. cit. (ref. 47), 397, for an Up-and-Down of 1728.

Fun upon fun (ref. 58), 13.

Ibid., 18.

For examples of mountebanks' costumes at the fair, see Morley , op. cit. (ref. 47), 284 and 297.

Fun upon fun (ref. 58), 23–31.

See illustration, “Assembling the people”, on p. 27 of Fun upon fun.

Anon., The harangues or speeches of several celebrated quack-doctors in town and country (London, 1762), 11.

Ibid., 11.

Ibid., 11.

The harangues or speeches of several famous mountebanks (ref. 57), 13.

Ibid., 14.

Ibid.

Franklin , op. cit. (ref. 21), 142 ff.

“Qu'en tout terns qu'on passe sur ce pont, on y trouve toûjours un cheval blanc, un Abbé, et un putain.” Franklin, La vie privée d'autrefois (ref. 21), p. xxi: Vie de Paris sous la Régence, 202.

Franklin , op. cit. (ref. 21), 143.

Ibid., 158. Grand-Thomas presents, however, an irony: Received as a master-surgeon at Saint-Côme, he would perform as a charlatan in order to attract trade as a licenced toothdrawer.

Ibid., 143.

Ibid., 154.

The pelican was named after the bird, from its resemblance to the shape of the beak, and is first recorded as having been in use in France in the fourteenth century. The toothkey first appeared in the mid-eighteenth century, and resembled a door key of the time. Bennion Elisabeth , Antique dental instruments (London, 1986), chap. 2: “Extracting instruments”.

See, for example, Parson Woodforde's diary: Woodforde called on a farrier to remove a painful tooth for him on 4 June 1776. Woodforde James , A country parson: James Woodforde's diary 1758–1802 (Oxford and London, 1985), 51.

Hoffmann-Axthelm quotes Solingen, who stated that teeth could be extracted as toothdrawers did, with the point of a dagger. Hoffmann-Axthelm , op. cit. (ref. 40), 185.

Franklin , op. cit. (ref. 21), 147.

Ibid., 148.

See ref. 21.

“Pierre Fauchard, who is acknowledged by all as the father of dentistry”, Lindsay Lilian , A short history of dentistry (London, 1933), 57. “The name of Pierre Fauchard, upon whom the title, ‘The Father of Modern Dentistry’, has justly been bestowed, will endure when generations of dental pygmies will be entirely forgotten.” Campbell , op. cit. (ref. 4), 126.

“… Fauchard deserves to be remembered as a noble pioneer and sure founder of dental science….” Harris C. A. , quoted by Ring , op. cit. (ref. 1), 166.

See, for example, Campbell , op. cit. (ref. 4), 120.

Fauchard Pierre , Le Chirurgien dentiste, ou traité des dents (2nd edn, Paris, 1746), ii, 182–5.

For a clear illustration of the nature of this confusing relationship in the ancien régime, see Goubert , op. cit. (ref. 44), 908–26; Gelfand Toby , “Medical professionals and charlatans: The Comité de Salubrité Enquête of 1790–91”, Histoire sociale — Social history , xi, no. 21 (1978), 62–97: And Ramsey Matthew , Professional and popular medicine in France, 1770–1830 (Cambridge, 1988).

“Si je conseille au chirurgien d'abandonner cette opération, ce n'est pas seulement pour le préjudice que sa main en pourroit recevoir, c'est aussi qu'elle me paraît un peu tenir du charlatan et du bateleur. En effet, la plupart de ces arracheurs abusent de leur talent pour tromper le public, faisant accroire qu'ils n'ont besoin que de leurs doigts ou d'un bout d'épée pour emporter les dents les plus enracinées.” Dionis Pierre , Cours d'opérations de chirurgie, 1714 edn, 521. Quoted by Franklin , op. cit. (ref. 21), 143.

See ref. 87.

For a full discussion of the status and positioning of surgery in pre-revolutionary France, see Gelfand Toby , “The surgical profession in the Old Regime”, in Geison Gerald L. (ed.), Professions and the French state, 1700–1900 (Pennsylvania, 1984), 149–80.

Goubert , op. cit. (ref. 44), 915.

For example: Cormier, offering extraction “sans aucune douleur” in Franklin , op. cit. (ref. 21), 154, and “Un homme à cheval” in Paris, who could “arracher les dents, messieurs, sans vous faire aucune douleur”, ibid., 147.

“The majority were brazen charlatans with little or no ability except a line of patter about their skill and the painlessness of their ministrations, this giving rise to the popular expression ‘he lies like a tooth-drawer’.” Smith M. , A short history of dentistry (London, 1958), 23.

“… about this time [1730] a common aphorism referring to the character of the itinerant dentist was often used in continental Europe: ‘Il ment comme un arracheur des dents’.” Prinz Hermann , “Pierre Fauchard and his works”, Dental cosmos , lxv (1923), 827–30, p. 827. “Menteur comme un arracheur de dents”, quoted by Franklin , op. cit. (ref. 21), 144.