必要があって、18世紀イギリス史の概説書を読む。文献は、Langford, Paul, A Polite and Commercial People. England 1727-1783 (Oxford University Press, 1992)
New Oxford History of England のシリーズで、刊行された順序でいうとシリーズの第一巻で、なおかつ、ハードカバーが現れてからすぐにペーパーバックになったと記憶している。ラングフォードの巻が特別すぐれていたのかもしれない。イギリスの歴史の概説書、特にオクスフォードなどから出ている重要なシリーズものの概説書というのは、たいがい非常に優れたものだけれども、読んでいて、これほど成熟した、切れがいい手さばきを感じさせる歴史学者も少ないように思う。もちろん、私が判断できる箇所というのは限られているが、18世紀の病院についての記述は、コンパクトで要点を見事にまとめていて、とても勉強になった。
“So far as saving of life was concerned their effect is unlikely to have been statistically considerable either in improving or worsening matters.” (136)
“Hospitals were built on a foundation of bourgeois sentiment with solid self-interest.” (136)
“Although most specifically forbade their medical staff to charge fees for their services, they were permitted and expected to have paying pupils of their own in attendance. Hospitals were in effect a source of considerable profit to established physicians and surgeons”. (139)
“Hospitals were built on a foundation of bourgeois sentiment with solid self-interest.” (136)
“Although most specifically forbade their medical staff to charge fees for their services, they were permitted and expected to have paying pupils of their own in attendance. Hospitals were in effect a source of considerable profit to established physicians and surgeons”. (139)
