A Synopsis, or General View of the Principal Theories or Doctrines of Diseases: Which Have Prevailed or Been Taught at Different Periods to the Present Time
Philadelphia: Edward Parker, 1815. First Edition. 12mo, 172 pages, publisher's original full leather with gilt-lettered label and bands to spine. Bookseller’s ticket of “Edwd Parker’s Medical Book-Store, 178 Market Street, Philad.” affixed to the inside front board, especially notable as Parker was also the publisher of this work. An early American medical work surveying the principal systems by which disease had been understood from antiquity through the early nineteenth century. Published in Philadelphia in 1815, the book reflects the period’s effort to organize medicine historically and philosophically, tracing changing theories of pathology, causation, and treatment before the rise of modern germ theory. Currie, a Philadelphia physician known for his writings on yellow fever and his participation in the medical debates of the early republic, presents a compact but ambitious overview of medical doctrine as taught across different ages and schools. The volume is thus a notable artifact of early American medical thought, Philadelphia medical publishing, and the intellectual transition from classical humoral medicine and eighteenth-century nosology toward the developing scientific medicine of the nineteenth century. Some slight rubbing and wear, a few minor scuffs, previous owner's inscription, some foxing and discoloration, else in very good condition. Item #365
Price: $650.00