Between Hands and Memory: a Manuscript Medical Book and the Journey of Those Who Dictated, Used, and Preserved It
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Documents with History
There are documents that come to us with a discreet presence, but once preserved, they begin to reveal several layers of stories. This handwritten medical book, modest in appearance, is one such case. In it, I found the material testimony of a time when healing was also a gesture of improvisation, practice, and observation—when knowledge was passed on by tradition, from generation to generation.
By analyzing its contents, traces of use, and handwritten notes, I realized its value went far beyond medical utility: it carried with it a personal, political, and social history. I was able to reconstruct the path of this copy, identify its author—a doctor and professor at the University of Coimbra imprisoned for political reasons—understand the intention with which it was written, and even reopen a reflection on the profession of the barber surgeon, which was still alive in many rural Portuguese territories in the 19th century.
This text is part of the Documents with History series, where I share material fragments that connect the past with the present of my work. The act of showing them is, for me, an extension of care: by making them known, I value what so often remains forgotten, and in doing so, I also preserve their memory.
A dictated manuscript from prison: medicine for those who care, not for those who command
At the end of the 1820s, Professor João Lopes de Morais was a doctor and lecturer at the University of Coimbra, but he was persecuted by the Junta Expurgatória, created during the reign of King Miguel, amidst tensions between Absolutists and Liberals. Dr. Lopes de Morais was accused of holding liberal ideas and of having “free opinions in religious matters.” As a consequence, he was arrested in 1829 as a political prisoner in the fortress of Almeida, where he dictated the contents of this book.
The title leaves no room for doubt regarding its intention:
“Outline of Medical Practice, or brief essay on the treatment of the most common illnesses, dictated from the fortress of Almeida between January 1829 and 1830 by Doctor João Lopes de Morais, Demonstrator of Materia Medica at the University of Coimbra”
It is a small compendium of practical medicine, written in Portuguese and intended for laypeople and popular health practitioners, such as surgeons and barber surgeons. At a time when medical manuals were written in Latin and reserved for academic circles, this gesture of directly sharing knowledge with “curiosos” (the author’s own term for the curious laymen) was both political and pedagogical.
“These opinions were gathered by chance, and their collection gave rise to a small report on illnesses and their treatment, according to the current state of Medicine…”
It was dictated in prison, copied by the curious, and circulated outside editorial and university networks. Its content is direct, organized into fifty short chapters on different illnesses, with an index at the end. The book that has reached us is a handwritten copy made in Cabeço de Vide in 1855, two decades after the original dictation. It belonged to João António Pereira, a barber surgeon residing in Vaiamonte, as attested by the inscription on the flyleaf:
“This book belongs to João António Pereira, Barber-Surgeon in Vaiamonte. It was made in Cabeço de Vide in 1855.”
Inside the volume is also preserved a loose document, an exam record in the name of Francisco António Pereira, also from Vaiamonte. The coincidence of surnames and locality suggests a family tie and helps reconstruct the path of transmission or inheritance of knowledge and profession: from barber to barber, from father to son, until later reaching the hands of a physician trained at the University of Coimbra, whose first post was precisely in Vaiamonte.
More than a manual, this is a working book. On its endpapers are notes, scribbles, and annotations. The fifty illnesses are organized into short chapters, with simple advice, practical formulas, and warnings about the preparation and use of medicines. The language is clear, though at times technically precise. The introduction presents itself as a small manifesto, which neatly summarizes the author’s position:
“It is not, however, an empirical practice that this outline proposes; everything is founded on principles verified by experience and observation—the two sole springs upon which the entire system of Medicine must rest.”
And it ends with a direct piece of advice, which still resonates today:
“Flee from causes to avoid illness; enjoy in moderation and suffer with patience, for then you will be healthy.”
This handwritten book is more than a rare testimony of 19th-century Portuguese popular medicine. It proves that knowledge circulated outside hospitals, outside universities, outside printed treatises. It circulated in the calloused hands of barbers and surgeons, passed from father to son, from master to apprentice. And it was born, ironically, within the walls of a prison.
João Lopes de Morais (1783–1860): a professor between science and freedom
Born in Gândara, in today’s municipality of Mortágua, João Lopes de Morais stood out as a doctor, university professor, and liberal figure of independent thought, during one of the most turbulent periods in Portuguese history. His life reflects the tension between science, religion, and politics, in an era when higher education was also a stage for ideological confrontation.
Graduated in Medicine at the University of Coimbra, Lopes de Morais quickly distinguished himself as one of the most capable members of the Faculty. His academic merit was acknowledged even by his opponents: in 1824, the Junta Expurgatória of the University—created during the absolutist regime of D. Miguel I to expel undesirable elements—classified him as one of the most competent professors of his generation. Still, it proposed his exclusion, accusing him of irreligiosity and alleging that in Mortágua he was regarded as “impious” and a defender of “free opinions in religious matters.”
The decision to expel him from the University was taken by majority vote, not unanimously, revealing the controversy and the weight of his scientific prestige. To the accusation of irreligiosity was added his membership in the Masonic lodge Philadélfia, which, in the regime’s eyes, only deepened his liberal profile. He was dismissed from his position as professor.
Thus, he was imprisoned for political reasons, first in Almeida (1829), and later transferred to Lamego (1832–1833). The fortress of Almeida, an imposing stronghold on the border, was used as a military and political prison for liberal opponents—doctors, students, journalists, and soldiers who resisted absolutism.
With the liberal triumph in 1834 and the restoration of constitutional order, Dr. João Lopes de Morais was reinstated at the University of Coimbra. The University’s repository, today available online, shows that between 1835 and 1845 he signed several theses in the Faculty of Medicine, leaving testimony of his academic continuity and institutional rehabilitation.
Lopes de Morais also wrote about politics and social issues. He was editor of the newspaper Oposição Nacional, founded in Coimbra in 1844 by the city’s progressive party, in response to the popular revolution of March 8 of that year. He also joined the Coimbra Provisional Government in 1846.
He retired by decree of the University in 1855 and passed away in 1860. His memory is still celebrated in his hometown, where a primary school bears his name, a fitting tribute to someone who dedicated his life to science, freedom of thought, and public service, even in times of repression.
Historical and material value of the manuscript
The copy presented here is at once a testimony of:
A document of empirical and formal transmission of knowledge;
Evidence of medicine practiced outside university centers;
A vestige of the handwritten circulation of technical knowledge;
A key piece to understanding the social value of the barber surgeon profession;
Proof of the author’s resilience, who, even in prison, continued to teach and to write.
This is not a document to be left forgotten on a shelf. It is one that asks to be seen, read, and understood in its time and use. When it reached my hands, it brought with it this story. And by sharing it, I am also caring for it.
I do not seek merely to fix a historical fact, but to recognize the intelligence that passes from hand to hand, from generation to generation. It is this gesture of sharing, not just physical preservation, that helped conserve and carry this document into our present day.
This text complements and extends the previous post in this series, where I presented the “bloodletting exam record” of 1844, reflecting on the role of the barber-surgeon profession and the value of documents that bear witness to popular medical practice. Later, another post will be published about the people known to have been connected to this book. Together, the three posts contribute to illuminating a daily life of informal medical knowledge, almost always absent from official records.
For to preserve is not only to care for matter, for the object, it is also to give visibility, through time and context, to what oblivion threatens to erase.
References
Martins de Carvalho, J. (1868). Apontamentos para a historia contemporanea. Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade. https://archive.org/details/apontamentospara00mart/
Moreira, V., & Domingues, J. (2023). A contrarrevolução antiliberal de 1823: A vindicta absolutista contra o sistema político-constitucional vintista. Universidade Lusíada. https://doi.org/10.34628/a57t-nn72
Universidade de Coimbra. (s.d.). João Lopes de Morais. História da Ciência na UC. https://www.uc.pt/org/historia_ciencia_na_uc/autores/MORAIS_joaolopes