Genever - the first incarnation of gin, created in the Dutch Republic in the early seventeenth century - was instrumental in forging new connections between alchemy and medicine, politics and religion, trade and empire, East and West. In an age of global trade and exchange, this and other distilled spirits captured the imaginations of all kinds of Europeans: gentlemen pursuing natural philosophy in their private closets, physicians seeking new medicines and restoratives, alchemists searching for the elixir of life, and (not least) tradesmen looking to make money from the basic, visceral human drive for intoxication. In this talk we'll see how two heady, symbolically–charged substances – juniper and spirit – came together in a glass and consumed for health, pleasure and the promise of immortality.

Speaker: Dr Richard Barnett, Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Fellow and author of the Dedalus Book of Gin and Medical London

This event is FREE

This event is fully booked. To register for the waiting list please email Phoebe Harkins on p.harkins@wellcome.ac.uk.