This volume investigates the foundational principles and surgical practices of 14th-century medicine as codified by Guy de Chauliac. The author, a prominent physician to the Avignon papacy, synthesizes classical medical knowledge with his own clinical observations to establish a comprehensive surgical manual. Margaret Sinclair Ogden provides a critical edition of the Middle English translation, offering a window into the linguistic and technical evolution of medical discourse during the late medieval period.

Scholars and historians of medicine regard this text as a primary resource for understanding the transition of surgical knowledge from antiquity to the Renaissance. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the specialized nature of the Middle English terminology used throughout the volume.