From Brandreth's Pills to the Black Death

Over the festive season, two documentaries were broadcast which drew upon the resources of the Wellcome Library.

On BBC Radio 4, Brandreth's Pills told the story of Benjamin Brandreth, a pioneering patent remedy salesman of the nineteenth century.

Brandreth's Vegetable Pills earned their creator a fortune, and the documentary investigated Brandreth's ground-breaking marketing techniques. It also featured William Schupbach, Curator, Paintings, Prints and Drawings, Wellcome Library, discussing the testimonials included in Brandreth's publication The Doctrine of Purgation.

The concluding part of Man on Earth, Channel 4's series on how changes in climate have affected humans throughout history, aired on 28th December. To illustrate the effects of the Black Death on the population of Europe, presenter Tony Robinson was filmed in the Library's Reading Room, quoting from relevant works in our collection. The episode is available from the Channel 4 website.

Heston Blumenthal - do try this at home

Britain's most scientific chef Heston Blumenthal is back on tv this week, with his new Channel 4 series inspired by historic recipes. This week he recreated an amazing array of dishes, including mock turtle soup, Alice's 'Drink Me' potion from her Adventures in Wonderland and an eye-popping absinthe jelly recipe.

Heston used some very intersting source material for his creations. As well as Lewis Carroll, he has found inspiration from a number of Victorian recipe books. The Wellcome Library holds a number of historic cookbooks, including the one he uses for his crispy edible insects, Vincent M. Holt's Why Not Eat Insects? If you are inspired to find out what the Victorians did for us, then feel free to visit the Library and check the recipes out for yourself.

Next week's episode will cover Medieval cookery, with a pie containing four and twenty blackbirds - well, pigeons actually - a fruit dish made from bull's testicles, and some nicely fried nerves. Later weeks will cover Tudor England and Ancient Rome. Fabulous.