29 November 2025
Why couldn’t Bach escape a charlatan?

Why couldn’t Bach escape a charlatan?

Fraudsters are, unfortunately, common nowadays but are nothing new to history. Let's see what we can learn from the 1750s, a very well-known German composer and a little bit less known English doctor, who met each other (only) twice.

Patient

Name: Johann Sebastian Bach

Age: 65

Profession: musician, composer; often works at night, with a candlelight in a dimmed room.

Medical history: gradually deteriorating vision; moderate to high shortsightedness (myopia), recently developed cataract.

Medical recommendations: perform a surgery on the cataract to improve the patient's vision.

Doctor

Name: "Chevalier" John Taylor

Age: 46

Specialisation: ophthalmologist, surgeon

Additional information: served as Royal Oculist by King George II of Great Britain and Ireland, occasionally provided his services for Philip V of Spain, John V of Portugal; travelled around Europe to help as many as he could, always announcing his upcoming visits in advance.
Personal motto, "Qui dat videre dat viver." (Eng. He who gives sight, gives life.)

Then-normal surgical procedure: no anaesthesia, a surgeon would usually work with his assistant(s) who would hold a patient (treated in a sitting position) to avoid spasmodic or shaky movements from the latter. Cataract was cured by trying to shift or push the cloudy part of the eye lens with a sharp instrument (the procedure was known as couching). Surgery success rate: 30%.

Post-operative condition

John Taylor’s methods included, among others, bloodletting, laxatives[=EX1], local applications of pigeon blood medicine, pulverized sugar or baked salt. For several days, the patient had to maintain a bandage (some sources claim the bandage was supposed to have a cooked apple or a coin inside).

Patient: The clarity of my vision improved right after the surgery but the effect appeared very temporary. I could not see properly when the bandage was off in less than a week. The doctor conducted the second surgery, it doesn’t seem to be successful. I can still only see darkness and feel pain in the eyes.

Doctor: After the initial surgery, J.S. Bach was prescribed laxatives and bloodletting procedures. In a week, the patient asked for the second surgery which I performed. Thereafter I had to leave Leipzig for other cities to meet more patients.

J.S. Bach was not the first patient of J.Taylor whose condition worsened after the surgery. The doctor, however, preferred not to reveal this side of his experiences and aimed to leave the cities while his patients were still able to feel positive effects after the intervention.

As for the composer, he was most likely exposed to a bacterial infection during the manipulations in the eye. The infection spread quickly and became one of the reasons (though not the only one) the composer's general health condition began to decline. He was not able to play or write music anymore. He dictated his final work while completely blind, and in four months after the surgeries, the maestro passed.

Could it be otherwise in 1750s?

Eye surgeries were not then commonly recommended – this was the approach to try when nothing else would work. J.S. Bach was aware of that, as well as of the common ways such surgeries were performed, while the following encouraged him to go for it:

  • he was afraid of a complete loss of vision which would make it impossible to write, read, or play music
  • Dr “Chevalier” John Taylor was well-known in Europe and had mostly positive reviews
  • it was the first time the doctor would come to Leipzig and it’s unlikely he would ever revisit the city
  • at the moment, neither the composer himself nor his friends had contacts of any other ophthalmologist available in the region

…and Taylor. Aside from being a certificated doctor – he indeed took courses in numerous universities to improve his skills but also to make his qualification more convincing – Taylor was a wonderful marketer but a not very moral man.

  • After having served the monarchs, he made it a way to empower the status and continued to look for other authorities as his patients.
  • He would often order an advertising campaign before coming to a city in his bright thematically decorated coach. Of course, it must be a unique opportunity – he would rarely come back again!
  • Despite having debts for a long time already, he paid for positive reviews and favourable newspaper coverage.
  • Before starting any practical activities, Taylor would give a lecture promising miraculous results. He would even perform some surgeries on public – to demonstrate his openness to the audience. Unhygienic? The doctor is the authority and must know better, mustn't he?

Imagine if at least half of these activities didn’t take place. Chances are, J.S. Bach and many others, including G.F. Handel, another well-known German composer who was Taylor’s patient, too, would never know about this medical care service. We are not saying that would necessarily improved quality of their lives, but some of these patients might be able to avoid complete blindness and to live longer.

What is important today?

Reviews and commentaries are helpful sources of information, though should not be treated as verified truth even when numerous, frequent, or sourced from known people (and especially when everything applies).

Make recommendations of products and services you have tried yourself. Otherwise, clearly put your words as an extra piece of information, not as a call to action – add to making word-of-mouth advertising fair.

Quality is not what one believes, quality can be measured or evaluated (as well as risks!).

When risks are high and you are willing to take them, it might be good to think about your further plans in case it doesn’t go well.

Remember to check the alternatives – we live in the age of information and it’s way too easy to overlook something good, important, or just cool.

[=EX1] also purgatives or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements; used to treat and prevent constipation.