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Aylett Sammes' Britannia Antiqua Illustrata, a tall folio of some 600 pages, aims to fill a gap by collecting all the then available information on early Britain. All relevant writers pass review, and the historical starting-point is Noah's Flood. The first settlers must have been the Phoenicians, then come the Greeks, and at last the British, the Romans and, on p. 350, the Saxons. The history of the Saxon kings begins on p. 389 and concludes the book. Its historical value today is nil, but even so it has its interests, which include a fascinating set of illustrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The treatment of fractures is a relatively simple and logical procedure mastered by many cultures worldwide, so it seems likely prima facie that the Anglo-Saxons would have had some means for treating such injuries as well. To investigate this matter, we shall first describe the modern standards of fracture treatment. Fractures can occur in any type or size of bone, but this paper will focus on long bone fractures, i.e., fractures of the arms and legs, since these were the most likely to be diagnosed correctly by Anglo-Saxon physicians, and hence most likely to received successful treatment. Then, after we describe common methods for treating these injuries in modern medicine, we will next turn to Anglo-Saxon medical literature and its classical sources. Finally, we shall analyse archaeological evidence of fractures in order to gauge the practice of treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]