Publications Medical & Scientific Instruments
The Evolution of Surgical Instruments
An Illustrated History from Ancient Times to the Twentieth Century
John Kirkup, MD, FRCS
With A Foreword By James M. Edmonson, PhD
$275.00
The Evolution of Surgical Instruments is the first comprehensive work on the subject published in over sixty years and arguably the most important general history of surgical instruments ever published. The only prior work on the subject, C. J. S. Thompson’s The History and Evolution of Surgical Instruments (1942) attempted to cover the entire history in only 113 pages. Elisabeth Bennion’s Antique Medical Instruments (1979) concentrated chiefly upon the aesthetic aspects of medical and surgical instruments to 1870. James Edmonson’s comprehensive history, American Surgical Instruments (1997), focused on instruments manufactured in the United States up to 1900. Learn more »
American Surgical Instruments:
The History of Their Manufacture and a Directory of Instrument Makers to 1900
James M. Edmonson, Ph.D.,
Curator, Dittrick Museum Of Medical History
$225.00
The most comprehensive and authoritative directory to date of surgical instrument makers in the United States prior to 1900. The companion essay assesses the relative quality of the instruments and identifies the most important makers and their work. Learn more »
The Obstetrician’s Armamentarium:
Historical Obstetric Instruments and Their Inventors
Brian Hibbard, MD (London), PhD (Liverpool), FRCOG, FRACOG (Hon)
Out of Print
With over 500 illustrations, this work traces the evolution of obstetric instruments from ancient times to the early 20th century in Britain, Europe, and America. Learn more »
Pike’s Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue Of Optical, Mathematical, And Philosophical Instruments
Benjamin Pike, Jr.
Out of Print
With a new introduction by Deborah Jean Warner, Ph.D. and a new index to instruments.
The most complete illustrated catalogue of American scientific instruments in the second half of the nineteenth century. Learn more »
The Queen Catalogues
James W. Queen & Co.
$325.00—2 volume set
With a new introduction by Deborah Jean Warner, Curator, History of Physical Sciences, Smithsonian Institution.
Picking up where Pike’s Illustrated Catalogue left off, this collection of 19 extensively illustrated and annotated catalogues, bound in 2 volumes, provides the best available record of the widest range of scientific and artistic instruments available during the latter part of the 19th century. Learn more »
Milestones in Midwifery and The Secret Instrument: The Birth of the Midwifery Forceps
Walter Radcliffe, M.B., B.Chir., M.R.C.S
Out of Print
This reprint makes available in a single volume one of the most readable and authoritative histories of obstetrics and the exceptionally interesting history of the obstetrical forceps. Learn more »
The Development of Gynaecological Surgery and Instruments
James V. Ricci, M.D.
Out of Print
Reprint of the most comprehensive work ever written on the history of gynecological surgery and instruments, from ancient Greece and Rome to the age of antisepsis at the end of the nineteenth century. Learn more »
Spectacles and Other Vision Aids
A History and Guide to Collecting
J. William Rosenthal, M.D.
$148.00
This magnificently illustrated and beautifully designed book is the most comprehensive history ever written on the development of spectacles and other vision aids in Europe, America, Japan and China. With 8 appendices on various topics in optical history. Learn more »
![An Illustrated Wholesale Catalogue of Surgical and Dental Instruments, Elastic Trusses, Medical Saddle Bags [etc.] (Philadelphia, 1860)](../../img/products/snowden-th.jpg)
An Illustrated Wholesale Catalogue of Surgical and Dental Instruments, Elastic Trusses, Medical Saddle Bags [etc.] (Philadelphia, 1860)
bound with
John Weiss & Son. Catalogue of Surgical Instruments, Apparatus, Appliances, &c. (London, 1863)
Snowden & Brother
Out of Print
Reprinted in facsimile with an important new introduction by James M. Edmonson, Ph.D., Curator of the Dittrick Museum of Medical History and the leading American historian of surgical instruments and other medical supplies used in Civil War hospitals and on the battlefield. The Weiss catalogue is included because many Civil War surgeons and hospitals ordered equipment from English suppliers. Learn more »
The Centennial Edition of American Armamentarium Chirurgicum (1889)
George Tiemann & Co.
Out of Print
With a new introduction by James M. Edmonson, Ph.D., and F. Terry Hambrecht, M.D.
Limited to 1000 copies, this facsimile reproduces Tiemann’s largest and most comprehensive surgical-instrument catalogue. Learn more »
The Mechanics of Surgery (1899)
Charles Truax
Out of Print
With a new introduction by James M. Edmonson, Ph.D.
This catalogue describes and depicts virtually the entire range of instrumentation employed in the surgical and medical practice at the turn of the century. Learn more »
The Samuel S. White Catalog of Dental Instruments and Equipment
Samuel S. White
Out of Print
The best record of the entire range of 19th-century dental instruments and supplies offered by the largest manufacturer of dental instruments in the world. Learn more »
Civil War Surgical Instruments Poster Out of Print
Full-color poster displaying a set of Civil War surgical instruments manufactured by Dietrich W. Kolbé of Philadelphia. 36" × 24". Learn more »
The Spectacular History Of Spectacles Poster Out of Print
Full-color poster illustrating the development of spectacles and other vision aids from earliest times to the present. Learn more »
back to top