ABSTRACT
Bodleian MS Ashmole 6 is one of around 30 known physician's folding almanacs - small manuscripts of medical reference material in Latin, all made in England around the fifteenth century. As historians of science have shown, the content of the folding almanacs is critical to understanding the practices of late medieval medicine, in particular the role of astrology in diagnosis and treatment. The almanacs have also been briefly studied in art historical scholarship, primarily in terms of the iconography of Zodiac Man. The diagnostic operations with the folding almanacs required a series of hand and even body movements, some sequential, some repeated: first, the almanac would be removed from the purse or case, or detached from the belt. During the doctor's operations with the folding almanacs, the patient would have seen the reverse of whatever folio the physician opened: text, images, or charts often upside down, or sideways.
