I’ve just added a new book (Old Dr Carlin’s Recipes 1881) into the Formulas Category. You can find it by sorting on date on that Index Page.
It’s a pretty well known book from 1881 and is the one out of the various books of it’s type that I decided to clean up and format for printing. I have a print set built and will be printing and binding a bunch of them next week when I’m spending a few days in the print shop to also print and bind some more Books of the Farm sets.
The printed and bound copy will be significantly less expensive than those available in Amazon and elsewhere.
In the printed and bound copies I have removed the chapter on “Medicine and Surgery” because the remedies in it are truly frightening often being comprised of things like Acetate of Lead, Mercury, Strychnine, Arsenic, Hemlock, Opium and a number of other substances and materials that are extremely dangerous and potentially fatal. As such that section of the book is a completely useless waste of paper. That section is still in the digital copy in the Library if you want to look through it for entertainment.
Seriously… don even think of using any of THAT information!
The rest of the book has a lot of interesting and potentially practical formulas and recipes comprising methods for making many things we now normally buy and have no idea how to make ourselves. Even there though caution is advised.
Many folks in the 1880 were familiar with things like making soap using Lye and it was common knowledge that Lye could cause serious burns if left in contact with the skin. It doesn’t even have to be mentioned in the book because EVERYONE already knew that. Many people in the 2000s DON’T know that never having had any experience handling or producing Lye. It BURNS!!! Wear gloves! Wear goggles! It is seriously nasty stuff to work with if you get careless.
So before actually using any of the formulas/recipes in this book, as interesting as many of them are, take some time to research the materials and substances mentioned and make sure you understand any risks associated with them.
I should have the new books added to the store sometime next week for anyone interested.
The Librarian
