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.

Since the 1970s I have pursued three separate but overlapping and sometimes simultaneous careers: (1) philosopher / writer / teacher / historian of the long nineteenth century, 1789-1914; (2) editor / translator / photographer / publisher / biographer / encyclopedist; (3) cataloging librarian / rare books and special collections librarian / historian of medicine. Somehow these three vocations have garnered me some acclaim, even an entry in Who's Who in America. Each of them has resulted in some published or presented works. Because these works have been scattered in a wide variety of venues, some of which have gone out of print or have otherwise become generally unavailable - and of course with the oral presentations being gone as soon as they are given - I have thought it wise to select, epitomize, and bring them together in one place - here. Thus, what follows in these volumes is what I consider to be the most important of my shorter works. All translations are my own unless otherwise indicated.