[1/8] Allow us to introduce you to #JohnTaylor (1703-1772), the St Thomas’ Hospital-trained #oculist accused of blinding #Handel and killing #Bach! Denounced as a charlatan by the medical profession, he was more famous for his showmanship than his surgical skills.
#histmed #quack

[2/8] #DrJohnson described him as, “the most ignorant man I ever knew … an instance of how far impudence will carry ignorance”. A fair comment when you look at Taylor’s CV. No, seriously! Keep reading!
#histmed #oldoptheare

[3/8] He advertised himself as surgeon-oculist to George II, and ‘Ophthalmiater Royal’ to the Pope, the Emperor and even a mythical Princess of Georgia! Wow, you have to admire the man’s sass!
#OldOpTeathre #HistMed #occulist

[4/8]But Taylor wasn’t your average panacea-peddling mountebank;he had an excellent pedigree. He studied under pioneering surgeon #WilliamCheselden. Taylor also published 2 books containing insights into misaligned eyes which were added into #ophthalmology over a century later!

[5/8]Despite these achievements Taylor became the archetypal itinerant quack, adopting the same eye-watering techniques for couching #cataracts which had been used for centuries. Dubbing himself ‘Chevalier’, he travelled around Europe in a coach covered in paintings of eyes!

[6/8] His arrival was publicised days before to draw the largest crowd. Operations and payments were organised to precipitate a hasty retreat before the patients’ bandages were removed!
#oldoptheatre #histmed #quacks

[7/8]His high-profile operations on #Handel and #Bach led to accusations that Taylor caused their blindness, and even Bach’s death four months later. There’s no doubt he blinded hundreds of people during his long career.
#oldoptheatre #histmed

[8/8]Karma eventually caught up with Taylor & he spent the last few years of his life completely blind. His dubious career contained flashes of medical innovation,but his greatest skill was self-promotion. If only he’d used his stellar marketing powers for good instead of greed!