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Reviewed by:
  • Surgical and Dental Instrument Catalogues from the Civil War Era
  • Ben Z. Swanson Jr.
Snowden and Brother, and John Weiss and Son. Surgical and Dental Instrument Catalogues from the Civil War Era. Introduction by James M. Edmonson. Norman Surgery Series, no. 10. San Francisco: Norman Publishing in association with the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 1997. xix + 344 pp. Ill. $150.00. (Available from Norman Publishing, 720 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94102-2502; tel.: 415-781-6402; fax: 415-781-5507; e-mail: orders@jnorman.com; http://www.historyofmedicine.com).

The reprinting in one volume of two medical/dental surgical instrument catalogs from the American Civil War period should delight collectors, dealers, curators, historians, and reenactors. It also adds an important work to the collection of medical trade catalogs being produced by Norman Publishing of San Francisco. An excellent introduction was written by James Edmonson, curator at the Dittrick Museum of Medical History, who is a leading authority on early surgical instruments in the United States. It is a tribute to the general fascination with this period of American history that Civil War-era catalogs were singled out for attention over other possible choices. Very little exists in reprint from the French instrument makers, for example (such as Charrière), and their original catalogs are, in general, quite rare and expensive. Perhaps Norman Publishing will address this need in the years to come.

Ben Z. Swanson Jr.
University of Maryland
Copyright © 1999 The Johns Hopkins University Press
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