This article provides for the first time a robust quantitative estimate of the amount of syphilis infection in the population of London in the later eighteenth century. A measure of the cumulative incidence of having ever been treated for the pox by the age of 35 is constructed, providing an indicator of over 20 per cent syphilitic infection. The principal primary sources are hospital admissions registers, augmented with an analysis of London's workhouse infirmaries. A range of potentially confounding factors are taken into account, including the contemporary conflation between syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections, patients who shunned hospitals in favour of private treatment, possible double‐counting of patients, institutional patients who may have hailed from outside London, and the complexity of establishing what should constitute the ‘at‐risk’ population of London for this period. Cultural and medical historians have demonstrated considerable pre‐occupation with venereal disease in the texts of the eighteenth century, while demographic and epidemiological historians, lacking any quantitative evidence, have tended to ignore the disease. This article can now demonstrate for the first time just how extensive syphilis was likely to have been and, by doing so, offer an original contribution to major debates in the history of sexuality and the demography of early modern London.

中文翻译：

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博斯韦尔伦敦的痘痘：1770年代大都市梅毒感染程度的估计值†

本文首次对18世纪后期伦敦人口中梅毒感染的数量提供了有力的定量估计。构造了一种在35岁以前曾接受过痘痘治疗的累积发生率的指标，该指标提供了超过20％的梅毒感染率的指标。主要的主要来源是医院的入院登记簿，并增加了对伦敦工作间医务室的分析。考虑了一系列潜在的混淆因素，包括梅毒与其他性传播感染之间的当代混淆，拒绝医院转而寻求私人治疗的患者，可能的重复计算患者数，可能从伦敦以外招来的机构患者，以及在此期间确定应该构成伦敦“高风险”人口的复杂性。在18世纪的文本中，文化和医学历史学家已表现出对性病的相当关注，而缺乏任何定量证据的人口统计学和流行病学历史学家倾向于忽略这种疾病。现在，本文可以首次证明梅毒可能广泛传播，并通过这种方式为性历史和近代早期伦敦的人口统计学的主要辩论提供了原创性的贡献。缺乏任何定量证据，因此往往忽略了这种疾病。现在，本文可以首次证明梅毒可能广泛传播，并通过这种方式为性历史和近代早期伦敦的人口统计学的主要辩论提供了原创性的贡献。缺乏任何定量证据，因此往往忽略了这种疾病。现在，本文可以首次证明梅毒可能广泛传播，并通过这种方式为性历史和近代早期伦敦的人口统计学的主要辩论提供了原创性的贡献。