This is a catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of rare books dealing with "popular medicine" in early America which is housed at the University of Rochester Medical School library. The books described in the catalogue were written by physicians and other professionals to provide information for the non-medical audience. The books taught human anatomy, hygiene, temperance and diet, how to maintain health, and how to cope with illness especially when no professional help was available. The books promoted a healthy lifestyle for the readers, giving guidance on everything from physical fitness and recreation to the special health needs of women. The collection consists of works dealing with reproduction [from birth control to delivering and caring for a baby], venereal disease, home-nursing, epidemics, and the need for public sex education. These books, covering areas largely ignored by the medical profession, made important contributions to the health of the American public, and the collection is a vital piece of medical history. The collector is Edward C. Atwater, Professor Emeritus of Medicine and the History of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical School. Christopher Hoolihan is History of Medicine Librarian at the University of Rochester Medical School's Edward G. Miner LIbrary.

Excerpt from Nervous Exhaustion, Its Cause and Cure: Comprising a Series of Eight Lectures on Debility and Disease, as Delivered Nightly at Dr. Kahn's Museum of Anatomy, With Practical Information on Marriage, Its Obligations and Impediments But it is now quite unnecessary to make any apology for publishing a book of this nature. The importance of the subject on which it treats has long been recognized by the Pulpit and by the Piess, by the learned and by the unlearned, by the Medical Profession, and by their patients. I do not hesi tate to assert that the lessons taught by this little book will prove of the greatest value to all who study them in a proper spirit. The laws of the Creator are absolute and unchanging; it is im possible to' (lo evil or to violate those laws without. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.