Cleft lip surgery in Anglo-Saxon Britain: the Leech Book (circa A.D. 920)

Plast Reconstr Surg. 1986 May;77(5):850-3. doi: 10.1097/00006534-198605000-00031.

Abstract

The Leech Book, the oldest known Anglo-Saxon herbarium, probably written in Winchester, circa A.D. 920, by Cyril Bald or at his special request, contains a short chapter on the surgical treatment of the cleft lip; this chapter apparently represents the first record in a medical manuscript of this treatment. The original Anglo-Saxon text is presented together with transcriptions into more modern English. The general value of the Leech Book is briefly studied.

Publication types

  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Cleft Lip / history*
  • History, Medieval
  • Humans
  • Manuscripts, Medical as Topic*
  • United Kingdom