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In this study, D. Heitsch examines fifteenth- to seventeenth-century French authors who treat writing as a process of medication and whose literary production effectively yields a therapeutic substance. Through reference to Plato, Aristotle, Galen, Ficino, and advocates of alternatives to Western medicine such as John Mesue and Leone Ebreo, these writers emphasize the material/gendered soul and the role of the body in cognitive functions, illustrating knowledge as a result of physical interaction.

The study explores Hélisenne de Crenne alongside the ´pneumo-physiology´ of Galen and the ´dolce stil novo´, Rabelaisian anatomy together with the anti-Arabist Champier, and debates among natural philosophical poets on the transmigration of souls. The author also considers Marie de Gournay in relation to Juan Huarte´s humoral theory and Jean d´Espagnet´s alchemical philosophy, as well as Michel de Montaigne´s interest in Jacques Dubois´s Arab-influenced approaches to medicine.

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