Antique Medical Library References

Please indulge yourselves here with the medical collecting references which we routinely use. This is the greatest gift we can give fellow collectors and especially new collectors. We have included contact information or links to Amazon on-line books where available. Some of our favorite sources are:
Antique Medical Instruments by Elisabeth Bennion, extensive early European and English instrument information, worth the price. It's out of print, but can be searched for by Amazon Books
American Armamentarium Chirurgicum, a catalog for Geo. Tiemann Co., published by Norman Publishing, this huge book has extensive illustrations and is the best source for identification of American instruments by Tiemann as well as figuring out what many of the early instruments were used for. Well worth the price. Click on the Amazon logo to see more on this book:
American Surgical Instruments, and Surgery: an illustrated history. By James M. Edmonson, Ph.D., published by Norman Publishing, available from Amazon.com, click the logo for information: This is without doubt the best book on the market for collecting American surgical instruments. It is extremely well done and covers all the details needed to identify and date surgical sets. I highly recommend it.
American Surgery, An Illustrated History, Ira M. Rutkow, MD. A historical account of the evolution Surgery in America, heavily illustrated. Great gift book at about $84 ppd. This is where you learn how various aspects of the medical community operated during the Civil War or during the early part of the 1800's. It is an exhaustive historical lesson, but not of much use for identification of instruments. Available from Amazon.com
Warning: Wilbure's books contain some out dated misinformation...beware!
Antique Medical Instruments by Keith Wilbur, MD. This is a beginners book, but valuable as it covers a multitude of instruments and some historical information. Inexpensive.
Antique Dental Instruments by Elisabeth Bennion. The best and only source for early European and English dental instruments. Available from Amazon.com
Antique Medical Chests by Anne Mortimer Young, The only source for apothecary chests and medical cabinets. Mostly covers European and English material. Check with Amazon
Civil War Medical Instruments and Equipment, vol I & II, III by Dr. Gordon Dammann. Kind of sketchy information and photos. Not a strong source for medical, but so far the best for Civil War issue other than a massive set of books available from Norman Publishing on Civil War Medicine.

Books and References for Antique Medical Collecting

Alphabetical Index for Civil War Surgical Antiques