Facets

c. 1474

#5113

De epidemia et peste.

One of the earliest works written on public health, and one of the earliest printed medical books. It was first printed in Arnaldus de Villanova’s De arte cognoscendi venena (Padua, 1473; Mantua, 1473). Above is the f…

1476

#4204

Summa conservationis et curationis. Chirurgia.

Contains (Cap. cxl) his classic account of renal edema: De duritie in renibus, an English translation of which is in Major, Classic descriptions of disease, 3rd ed., 1945, p. 527. ISTC no. is00032000.

c. 1477 –c. 1483

#1959.3

Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum (With commentary by [Pseudo-Arnoldus de Villa Nova]). Add: Arnoldus de Villa Nova: Regimen sanitatis ad regem Aragonum.

Probably originating about 1160, the Regimen sanitatis from the medical school at Salerno (where medicine was first treated as a separate science) had greater popular influence than virtually any other medieval medica…

1478 –1482

#5115

Tractatus de pestilentia.

The most widely disseminated of all plague tracts from the time of the Black Death, of which 33 printed editions appeared in the 15th century. A French rhymed version appeared in 1476, but this version is very differe…

1478

#1959.2

Von Bewahrung und Bereitung der Weine.

The first printed book on wine, its production and preservation, translated from the Latin by Wilhelm von Hirnkofen. It discusses the value of wine in diet and as a medication. Wine has been called the oldest document…

1483

#6812

Regimen contra pestilentiam [English] Treatise on the Pestilence.

The earliest medical work printed in English. It was published without printer's name or date, but has been attributed to the press of William Machlinia, in London, and estimated to have been published in 1483."Althou…

1487

#1961

De particularibus diaetis.

The first separately printed treatise on diet was written by the Egyptian-Jewish physician and philosopher Isaac Judaeus who lived from about 832 to 932 CE. He was also known as Isaac Israeli ben Solomon and Abu Ya'qu…

1492

#1960

Thesaurus pauperum. [Italian:] Tesoro de poveri. Tr: Zucchero Bencivenni.

One of the most popular medical books of the Middle Ages; first written about 1260. After its first printing about 1492 it was reprinted many times in the next 100 years. "Petrus Hispanus was the only practicing physi…

1547

#1591

The breviary of helthe, for all manner of syckenesses and diseases the whiche may be in man, or woman doth folowe.

This, probably the earliest “modern” work on hygiene, throws some light on the condition of that subject in the 16th century.

1569

#1986.1

Artis gymnasticae apud antiquos celeberrimae, nostris temporibus ignoratae.

A history, based on extensive study of the classical literature, of the attitudes and practices of the Greeks and Romans concerning diet, hygiene, bathing, and exercise. This is one of the earliest books to discuss th…

1598

#10727

Discvrsos del amparo de los legitimos pobres.

A plan for a state-funded public health system and poor relief program. An emblem introduces each of the ten essays, which treat hospital sanitation and kitchen gardens, care of disabled veterans, prisoners and the in…

1598

#12829

Discursos del amparo de los legitimos pobres y reduccion de los fingidos, y de la fundacion y principio de los albergues destos Reynos, y amparo de la milicia dellos.

In this rather utopian work with emblematic illustrations Pérez presented a plan for a state funded public health system and poor relief program. His ten essays concerned hospital sanitation, kitchen gardens, care of …

1623

#2262.1

Tratado de las siete enfermedades, de la inflammacion universal del higado, zirbo, pyloron, y riñones, y de la obstrucion, de la satiriasi, de la terciana y febre maligna, y passion hipocondriaca. Lleva otros tres tratados, del mal de Loanda, del guzano, y de las fuentes y sedales.

The first important work on tropical diseases. Only six copies of the original edition of this book are known. It includes full accounts of malaria, typhoid, and scurvy, and the first accurate descriptions of yellow f…

1642

#8956

La presence des absens; ou facile moyen de rendre présent au médecin l'estat d'un malade absent. Dressé par les docteurs en médecine consultans charitablement à Paris pour les pauvres malades.

Renaudot, physician, philanthropist and journalist, published this self-diagnostic handbook so that charity patients could communicate with their physicians by correspondence. Digital facsimile from biusante.paris.des…

1665

#5119

London’s dreadful visitation, or, a collection of all the Bills of Mortality for the present year: beginning the 27th of December 1664, and ending the 19th of December following…By the Company of Parish Clerks of London.

BILLS OF MORTALITY

This is a valuable statistical record of the great plague of 1665. (No. 6052 in the Bibliotheca Osleriana.)

1672

#1769

De aere, locis, et aquis terrae Angliae; deque morbis Anglorum vernaculis. Cum observationibus ratiocinatione & curandi method illustratis.

An outline of the medical topography of England.

1683

#9308

The way to health, long life and happiness, or, a discourse of temperance and the particular nature of all things requisit for the life of man as all sorts of meats, drinks, air, exercise, &c. with special directions how to use each of them to be the best advantage of the body and mind. Shewing from the true ground of nature whence most diseases proceed, and how to prevent them. To which is added, a treatise of most sorts of English herbs ... the like never before published / communicated to the world for a general good, by Philotheos Physiologus.

Tryon, an English merchant, was the author of popular self-help books and an early advocate of vegetarianism. Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.

1762

#1771

Historia natural, y medica de el Principado de Asturias.

The first recognizable description of pellagra is included on pp. 327-60 of this book, which was written in 1735 but not published until 1762, after the writer’s death. He called the disease mal de la rosa. Reprinted,…

1777

#1598

The state of the prisons in England and Wales.

Howard devoted much of his life to the improvement of the conditions then prevailing in prisons. The publication of his book led to legislation abolishing abuses in prisons and providing for their proper cleaning. The…

1784

#10484

Dictamen del mismo doctor Don Joseph Masdevall dado de órden del rey sobre Si las fábricas de algodon y lana son perniciosas ó no á la salud pública de las ciudades donde están establecidas. IN: Relacion de las epidemias de calenturas putridas y malignas....

Digital facsimile of Masdevall's work on occupational medicine from helvia.uco.es at this link. Digital facsimile of the complete epidemiological work from Google Books at this link.

1832

#10393

Code administratif des établissemens dangereux, insalubres ou incommodes.

Trebuchet's work sets out the rules and regulations governing dangerous and unhealthy work environments (particularly those involving steam engines) and public nuisances. Pages 281-301 contain a table of businesses cl…

1833

#10389

The manufacturing population of England, its moral, social, and physical conditions, and the changes which have arisen from the use of steam machinery; with an examination of infant labour.

Gaskell, a physician, addressed social, political and public health problems that resulted from the Industrial Revolution. Gaskell issued a revised edition of this work in 1836 under a different title: Artisans and Ma…

1834

#10394

Jurisprudence de la médecine, de la chirurgie, et de la pharmacie en France, comprenant la médecine légale, la police médicale, la responsabilitié des médecins, chirurgiens, pharmaciens, etc, l'exposé et la discussion des lois, ordonnances, réglemens et instructions concernant l'art de guérir, appuyé des jugemens des cours et des tribunaux.

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

1841

#9063

Da prostituição na cidade de Lisboa; ou considerações historicas, hygienicas e administrativas em geral sobre as prostitutas, e em especial na referida cidade: com a exposição da legislação portugueza a seo respeito, e proposta de medidas regulamentares, necessarias para a manutenção da saude publica, e da moral.

In this comprehensive study of prostitution in Lisbon Cruz analyzed the history of prostitution in Portugal and compared it to the practice in Japan, India, Egypt, ancient Greece and Rome, as well as a number of moder…

1842

#1608

Report…from the Poor Law Commissioners on an inquiry into the sanitary conditions of the labouring population of Great Britain.

Chadwick devoted his life to social reform. He was secretary to the Poor Law Commission when he made the above report to Parliament. In it he included a careful analysis of causes of death in 1838 and 1839 and gave a …

1843

#10390

Diseases of the lungs from mechanical causes; and inquiries into the condition of the artisans exposed to the inhalation of dust.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

1844 –1845

#8884

First [Second] report of the commissioners for inquiring into the state of large towns and populous districts [Appendix- Part II].

The publication of Chadwick's 1842 Report inspired the creation in 1843 of the Royal Commission for Inquiry into the State of Large Towns and Populous Districts, in which Chadwick once again played a leading role, dra…

1845

#2421

Geschichte der Lustseuche. Erster Theil. Die Lustseuche im Alterthume.

French translation, 1847; English translation as The plague of lust, being a history of venereal disease in classical antiquity, and including: Detailed investigations into the cult of Venus, and phallic worship, brot…

1851 –1876

#31

Oeuvres d’Oribase, texte grec, en grande partie inédit…traduit pour la première fois en français; par les Drs. Bussemaker et Daremberg. 6 vols.

Oribasius was a compiler of existing knowledge rather than an original writer. His output was immense; he compiled the Synagoge, an encyclopedic digest of medicine, hygiene, therapeutics, and surgery from Hippocrates …

1851

#8942

Die metallurgischen Krankheiten des Oberharzes.

Brockmann's book on the pulmonary disease of miners, including black lung disease, was first book on occupational health published in Germany. Brockmann published a preliminary paper on the subject in 1845. Digital fa…

1868

#1616

Ueber die Canalisation von Berlin.

Virchow advocated a canal sewer system for Berlin. Such a system was constructed by Hobrecht. See No. 1624.

1876

#12995

Gerichtlich-medicinische Untersuchungen über das Skopzenthum in Russland nebst historischen Notizen.

Pelikan, professor of forensic medicine in St. Petersburg, published this German version of his treatise on the fanatical Russian Christian sect Skoptsy, known for its practice of castration, clitoridectomies, and mas…

1877

#7118

De observatione ciborum epistula ad Theudericum Regem Francorum. Iterum edidit Valentinus Rose.

De observatione ciborum ("On the Observance of Foods") by Anthimus, a Byzantine physician at the court of the Ostrogoth king Theodoric, concerns foods and their preparations as well as the use of foods for selected ai…

1879

#10397

On health and occupation. Manuals of Health. Published under the direction of the Committee of General Literature and Education appointed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

1890

#1650

English sanitary institutions, reviewed in their course of development, and in some of their political and social relations.

Simon "viewed the state as provider of the basic conditions needed for subsistence (without interfering in the iron law of wages) through sanitary reform of the environment, prevention of epidemic diseases, and the re…

1904

#13379

Berlins drittes Geschlecht.

"Third sex" was Hirschfeld's provisional term for gays and lesbians. Translated into English by James J. Conway as Berlin's third sex, Berlin: Rixdorf Editions, 2017.

1905

#10780

A preliminary note on the susceptibility of goats to Malta fever.

Zammit discovered that contaminated goat milk was the vector for transmission to humans of the Malta fever bacterium, Brucellosis melitensis. At the time goat milk was a primary source of milk in Malta and other parts…

1908

#2913

[In Russian:] Changes in parenchymatous organs and in the aorta of rabbits under the influence of animal protein.

Experimental atherosclerosis produced by a cholesterol-rich diet of whole milk, egg yolks, and meat. French translation as" Influence de la nourriture animale sur l'organisme des lapins," Arch. Méd. exp. Anat. path.,1…

1911

#1710

La dépopulation de la France: Ses conséquences, ses causes, mésures à prendre pour la combattre.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

1913

#2915

Ueber experimentelle Cholesterinsteatose und ihre Bedeutung für die Entstehung einiger pathologischer Prozesse.

Anichkov and Chalatov of St. Petersburg, Russia, discovered that atherosclerosis of large arteries is critically dependent on cholesterol. (Translated in Arteriosclerosis, 1983, 3, 178-182). The inflammatory nature of…

1916

#6537.1

A history of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and of the Irish schools of medicine, including a medical bibliography and a medical biography. 2nd ed.

First edition, 1886. Digital facsimile of the 1886 edition from the Internet Archive at this link.

1917 –1922

#10532

Science et dévouement: Le service de santé, la Croix-Rouge, les oeuvres de solidarité de guerre et d'après-guerre. Publie avec la colloboration de MM. J. Abadie, Jacques Bertillon, Georges Brouardel....Edited by François Albert.

A deluxe, large format, commemorative volume edited by journalist François Albert. It was published by subscription, limited to 5000 copies, and issued in fascicules from 1917-1922. Includes contributions by 50 eminen…

1923

#1767

On airs, waters, and places. IN: his [Works] with an English translation by W. H. S. Jones, 1, pp. 65-137

“The first book ever written on medical geography, climatology, and anthropology” (Garrison). The Latin translation of this text was first published in Rhazes’ Liber ad Almansorem, Milan, 1481. See No. 39.1. The stand…

1927

#7842

Certain samaritans.

A first-hand account of the American Women's Hospitals especially in Greece, Turkey and the Balkans helping to relieve the poulations uprooted by World War I and its aftermath. Lovejoy became the second woman to gradu…

1937

#9832

Socialized medicine in the Soviet Union.

"... Sigerist was influential in the creation of socialized medicine in Canada. He made four trips to Canada in the 1930s and 1940s at the invitation of various medical groups to speak on this topic. Under his influen…

1941

#10769

Jak zapobiegać chorobom zakaźnym i jak je zwalczać? Biblioteczka Zydowskiej Samopomocy Spolecznej. Nr. 1.

A 14-page pamphlet on epidemiology published by the Żydowska Samopomoc Społeczna, Prezydium (Jewish Social Self-Help Organization) in the Kraków Ghetto to educate Jewish activists and physicians. The author perished a…

1946

#7236

Choroba glodowa: Badania kliniczne nad glodem wykonane w getcie warszawskim z roku 1942.

A series of articles by Jewish physicians working in the Bersohn and Bauman Jewish Children's Hospital and "Czyste" Hospital in the Warsaw ghetto, who conducted independent research between November 1941 and August 19…

1948

#1669

The dawn of Scottish social welfare. A survey from medieval times to 1863.

1950

#1670

A history of English public health, 1834-1939.

1959

#6548.1

The Royal College of Surgeons of England: A history.