Chapter IX: The Leech

1 (p. 104) the Gobelin looms: Tapestries produced in the sixteenth century by the Gobelin family of France were considered the finest to be had. The tapestries hanging in Dimmesdale’ s library depict a biblical scene in which Nathan extracts from King David the admission of his seduction of Bathsheba and his deception of her husband, Uriah, whom David sent to his death in battle.

2 (p. 105) Sir Thomas Overbury’s murder: In 1613 Sir Thomas Overbury paid with his life for opposing the marriage of the earl of Rochester to the adulterous countess of Essex, who arranged to have Overbury poisoned by Ann Turner.

3 (p. 105) Doctor Forman: Simon Forman was an infamous quack whom Ann Turner solicited for potions to assist the countess of Essex in her affair with the earl of Rochester.