The Principles and Practice of Medicine

The Principles and Practice of Medicine: Designed for the Use of Practitioners and Students of Medicine is a medical textbook by Sir William Osler. It was first published in 1892 by D. Appleton & Company, while Osler was professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. The book established Osler as the world's leading authority in the teaching of modern medicine.^[1]

The Principles and Practice of Medicine title page, first edition, 1892.

The text was translated into French, German, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish and Chinese, and for over 40 years it was the world's most significant medical textbook.^[2]

First edition

Osler dedicated the book to his teachers; William Arthur Johnson, James Bovell and Robert Palmer Howard. There are 11 sections, preceded by a list of charts and illustrations.

Later years

After 1927, its popularity was succeeded by Cecil Textbook of Medicine.^[3]

A revised eleventh edition appeared in 1932.^[4]

References

1. Golden, Richard. A history of William Osler's The principles and practice of medicine. Osler Library studies in the history of medicine No. 8. Montreal, McGill University, 2004. ISBN 0-7717-0615-4
2. Famous Canadian Physicians at Library and Archives Canada
3. Pittman, James (2015). "7. Publications and professional activities". Tinsley Harrison, M.D.: Teacher of Medicine. NewSouth Books. pp. 149–150. ISBN 978-1-58838-226-9.
4. Osler, William; McCrae, Thomas (May 1932). "The Principles and Practice of Medicine". The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 75 (5): 573. doi:10.1097/00005053-193205000-00064. ISSN 0022-3018. S2CID 237021290.

External links

• First edition of the book, digitized for Archive.org by the University of Toronto