Medicine, Mortality and the Book Trade

Folkestone, Kent, U. K. / New Castle, Delaware: St. Paul's Bibliographies / Oak Knoll Press, 1998. Brand New. Bright, shiny, clean, square and tight. Sharp corners. NO owner's name or bookplate. NO remainder mark. NOT a library discard. Fresh and crisp -- obviously never read. 1998. First Edition. Papers from the annual conference on book-trade history held at the Society of Antiquaries of London headquarters, organized through the University of London. Contains an introduction and seven essays, as follows: 1) PRINTERS' DISEASES: THE HUMAN COST OF A MECHANICAL PROCESS by Michael Harris; PILLS AND PRINT by Peter Isaac; MORTALITY AND THE MENTAL MAP OF LONDON: RICHARD SMYTH'S OBITUARY by Vanessa Harding; MEDICAL INCUNABULA by Lotte Hellinga; BETWEEN THE MARKET AND THE ACADEMY: ROBERT S. WHIPPLE (1871-1953) AS A COLLECTOR OF SCIENCE BOOKS by Silvia De Renzi; 'THESE CRAFTY DEALERS' SIR HENRY WELLCOME AS A BOOK COLLECTOR by John Symons; and READING: A HEALTH WARNING by Roy Porter. Illustrations. Bibliographical references. Index. A volume from the Publishing Pathways series. From the rear cover: "The links between the book trade and the theory and practice of medicine have often been acknowledged but have seldom before been the subject of detailed investigation... …leading scholars from different specialties provide fascinating glimpses of the interaction between science, medicine and the culture of print. Booksellers, printers, collectors, readers and the mechanisms of production and distribution across several centuries form the basis of their studies. Michael Harris reveals the medical hazards that constantly threatened the health and safety of London printers in the 19th century. Peter Isaac reveals the close connections between bookselling and the marketing of proprietary and patent medicines. Vanessa Harding uses the evidence provided by Richard Smyth's OBITUARY to reconstruct a complex network of printers and customers in plague-ridden London. Sylvia De Renzi uses the career of Robert S. Whipple, a prominent manufacturer of scientific instruments, to show how an individual collector could contribute to the emergence of the history of science as a distinct discipline in the 20th century. Lotte Hellinga uses the evidence provided by incunabula to construct chronologies of the spread of ideas as well as to track the spread of particular diseases as they swept across 15th-century Europe. Roy Porter, in a characteristically wide-ranging argument, explores the relationship of print and readers, including dire warnings from the past about the effect of reading on mental health. Finally, John Symons recounts Sir Henry Wellcome's 40-year omnivorous collecting mania, which formed the basis of the Wellcome Institute's library and underlines his immense contribution to the development of the history of medicine as a field of interest." Bound in the original black laminated pictorial boards, stamped in blue and white.. First Edition. Hardcover. New/No jacket, as issued. 8vo. xii, 158pp. Great Packaging, Fast Shipping.