Into the notable city of Florence, fair over every other of Italy, there came the death-dealing pestilence, which… had some years before appeared in the parts of the East and… had now unhappily spread toward the West… To the cure of these maladies nor counsel of physician nor virtue of any medicine appeared to avail or profit aught… The mere touching of the clothes or of whatsoever other thing had been touched or used of the sick appeared of itself to communicate the malady to the toucher… Each thought to secure immunity for himself. Some… lived removed from every other and shut themselves up
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