Abstract The seventeenth-century London press proliferated titles purporting to reveal new truths gleaned from secret papers and private mailbags. These books, whether political, religious, or scientific in content, promised to reveal to the reader the complex (and sometimes scandalous) inner workings of political, social, and natural processes. They did so via the mechanism of the “perfect true copy”: the printed book or pamphlet that was (or claimed to be) an exact copy of private manuscript papers, whether nabbed or voluntarily released from the mailbags and closets of the prominent, the highborn, the powerful, or the learned. This article investigates the relations between printed copy and manuscript original in two cases where medical, natural philosophical, and political controversy overlapped: the mid-1650s posthumous publication (and forgery) of works by the astrological medical practitioner Nicholas Culpeper and the performance of Valentine Greatrakes, the Irish Stroker, as a faith healer in Restoration London. In each case, controversialists pointed to manuscript material as a secure record that backed up points being made in printed pamphlets and books, even inviting readers to check manuscript originals physically (often referred to as “copy”: that from which printed copies were made). These case studies engage with questions of gender and women’s credibility in print, authoring, and authorizing, both texts and medical expertise. Within the world of cheap vernacular medical print, and pamphlet controversy, women themselves, as well as male associates, such as stationers and husbands, used women’s knowledge and domestic positions—which encompassed their connections to manuscript copy—to certify printed texts and cures.

中文翻译：

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完美的真实复制品：手稿作为17世纪乡土英语新闻和医学书籍的证据

摘要十七世纪的伦敦报纸激增了标题，旨在揭示秘密文件和私人邮袋收集的新真相。这些书籍，无论是政治，宗教还是科学内容，都有望向读者揭示政治，社会和自然过程的复杂（有时甚至是丑闻）的内部运作。他们是通过“完美的真实副本”的机制来做到这一点的：印刷的书籍或小册子是（或声称是）私人手稿纸的精确副本，无论是用纸钉还是自愿从著名的书包和壁橱中放出来。高年级的，有权力的或有学问的 本文研究在医学，自然哲学和政治争议重叠的两种情况下，印刷副本与手稿原件之间的关系：1650年代中期，占星医学家尼古拉斯·卡尔佩珀（Nicholas Culpeper）的遗作出版（和伪造），以及爱尔兰复兴者瓦伦丁·Greatrakes的表演，作为伦敦复兴医院的信仰治疗者。在每种情况下，有争议的人士都将手稿材料作为安全的记录，以支持在印刷的小册子和书籍中提出的要点，甚至邀请读者亲自检查手稿的原件（通常称为“副本”：制成印刷件的手稿） 。这些案例研究涉及文本和医学专业知识在印刷，创作和授权方面的性别和妇女信誉问题。在廉价的白话医学印刷品和小册子争议的世界中，女性本身以及男性同伴（例如文具商和丈夫）