Publishing and Medicine in Early Modern England [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Lane Furdell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1580461190 | ISBN-13: 978-1580461191 | Publication Date: December 23, 2002

This book examines the effects of medical publishing on the momentous theoretical and jurisdictional controversies in health care in early modern England. The simultaneous collapse of medical orthodoxy and the control of medicine in London by the Royal College of Physicians occurred when reform-minded doctors who were trained on the continent, in tandem with surgeons and apothecaries, successfully challenged the professional monopoly held by Oxbridge-educated elites. This work investigates the book trade, the role it played in medicine, and the impact of the debate itself on the public sphere. Chapters analyze the politics and religious preferences of printers and sellers, gender as a factor in medical publishing, and the location of London bookshops, for clues to the business of well-being. Advertisements for remedies and therapeutic skills, the subject of another essay, became commonplace in 17th-century England; moreover, publishers and bookshop owners sometimes held the rights to proprietary medicines, undercutting licensed doctors. The final chapter surveys a variety of medical illustrations and their influence on the relationship between patient and physician. An epilogue considers the English medical scene and the world of print after the famous Rose decision of 1702, when the House of Lords gave apothecaries the legal right to practice medicine, ratifying the reality of a changed marketplace.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The book cogently lays out a great deal of useful information and provides an excellent overview of the relationship between medicine and publishing over two centuries. --American Historical Review

About the Author

Elizabeth Lane Furdell is Professor of History at the University of North Florida, and author of The Royal Doctors, 1485-1714.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: University of Rochester Press (December 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580461190
• ISBN-13: 978-1580461191
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,558,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth Lane Furdell, Professor of History and University Distinguished Professor at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, has published extensively on early modern British medicine, the first English-language medical books, and the treatment of diabetes before insulin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic historical work, November 5, 2010

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E. Jacobson "thunder on" (tempe, arizona) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Publishing and Medicine in Early Modern England (Hardcover)

Great sources, excellent material. I found this book extremely helpful for home remedy book research. Thorough academic work. I only wish it was priced lower.