Plague
Plague
Collection: Pandemics, Society, and Public Health, 1517–1925 Volumes Plague
The archival sources in this volume relate to plague. It is a bacterial illness transmitted to humans via infected fleas typically found on small animals such as rats, and occasionally through contact with contaminated bodily fluids. Common plague symptoms include fever, vomiting, delirium, expelling blood, and enlargement of the lymph nodes resulting in swelling to the groin and armpits. Between 1665 and 1666, London was struck with its most severe outbreak of plague. It resulted in the death of more than 15% of the city’s population. Often considered a biological relic of the distant past, the last outbreak of plague occurred in Britain in 1720, far more recently than people assume.
This volume tracks responses to plague in the UK from the early sixteenth century until the eighteenth century, although the volume also contains documents that date from the mid-nineteenth century. The documents within this volume were sourced from four leading UK archives: The National Archives, British Library, University College London, and London Metropolitan Archives. A complete item listing can be found on the Downloads page for this collection.
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