OK, so the Parisian intellectuals drank coffee; what was a poor English couple in the 1500s to choose? Beer, obviously. Word problem here; the booklet consists entirely of word problems. It’s a wonderful little object, only measuring about four inches wide and not quite three inches tall. It turns out that the souse is the husband: left to his own devices, he clears out the family supply in 20 days, whereas the good lady takes 30 days to do the job. (We don’t give our school kids problems about beer, do we?)

Plimpton MS 237, f. 1