Books
Rare Books

Collectible medical books

The appeal of collecting beautiful, old medical books is strong for many book collectors. Medicine has been practised - in one form or another - since the beginning of mankind and many of these practises have been documented in book form.

Some of the medical authors who are avidly collected include William Harvey (1578-1657) who discovered the circulation of blood, Thomas Willis (1621-1675) who coined the term neurology, Sir Charles Bell (1774-1842), a famous surgeon known for his books with gorgeous illustrations, Edward Jenner (1749-1823) who discovered the vaccination for smallpox and many other medical practitioners from years gone by.

According to Jeremy Norman's History of Science, an AbeBooks bookseller and one of the leading experts in the field of collecting rare medical books, "specialties in which collecting is currently popular include neurology and neurosurgery, ophthalmology, cardiology, dermatology, orthopedics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, plastic surgery, general surgery, otolaryngology, urology, and psychiatry." Jeremy Norman also notes that the history of anatomy and anatomical illustration is very appealling to collectors as many of the major anatomy books were illustrated by famous artists.

From anatomy to early methods of obstetrics to the study of phrenology, the Victorian pseudoscience of skull measurement, and the art of plastic surgery - these beautiful, collectible medical masterpieces would be a wonderful addition to any book collector's collection.

Share

More essential reading lists

October 19, 2021
Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time high fantasy series is epic in more ways than one. There are 14 novels where Jordan creates an imaginary magical world in immense detail and introduces thousands of good and evil characters.
1 Min Read
By Jessica Doyle
November 30, 2021
Written for the stage but just as good a read as any novel, a plays book is a book that contains the script of one or more dramatic plays. This list of 15 plays books includes well-known classics like A Street car Named Desire and Twelve Angry Men alongside modern award-winners including Water by the Spoonful and Wit.
1 Min Read
By Jessica Doyle
November 08, 2021
The top fiction and non fiction books of 2021. Our top picks for the best books of the year include Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winners, New York Times bestsellers, and many titles shortlisted for the year's big book awards.
1 Min Read