‘Please put a date to your letters …’: the textual evidence for Dr William Cullen's management of his epistolary practice

The archive of William Cullen's ‘Consultations’ held at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh is one of the most comprehensive records of an eighteenth-century epistolary medical practice. This essay presents findings coming out of the detailed textual analysis undertaken to establish appropriate editorial protocols for a digital edition. Close textual scrutiny forms the bedrock of scholarly editing and is essential for establishing the status of individual documents, but the aim here is to show how bringing such attention to bear can illuminate broader questions concerning how Cullen managed such a prompt and personal epistolary service