Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-65), J S Billings
The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-65). Prepared, in Accordance with Acts of Congress, under the Direction of Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes, United States Army. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1870.
Quarto volumes in green cloth over board with gold text on spines. Corners variably bumped and chipped. Some scuffing, splitting, and fraying, as well as rare small speckled stains of cloth. Plates a bit toned. Tissue guards wrinkled and folded. Part 3 vol 1 hinges cracked internally (joints strong externally). Front hinge of final volume cracking. Text pages bright with minimal foxing. Bindings tight. Part 1 vol 1 inscribed in an early hand on ffep “Presented to (Wm or John Tatham?) by Dr Billings Washington.” Part 2 vol 1 inscribed in an early hand on ffep “Wm or John Tatham?) Presented by the Surgeon Genl. Washington [per?] Dr. John. S. Billings. Small slip cut from prior dealer’s listing, and a photocopy of a page from another book (about Billings) loose in Part 1 vol 1 between 166 and 167.
Part I. Volume I. Medical History. J. J. Woodward. 1870: Ffep, blank, title – XLIII, 726, blank (4) 365, two blanks, rfep. With 16 plates (maps) and 11 figures. [maps are not bound in numeric sequence, though each is correctly placed per the printing instructions].
Part I. Volume II. Surgical History. George A. Otis. 1870: Ffep, blank, title – CLV, 650, XV, blank, rfep. With 13 lithographic plates and 305 figures.
Part II. Volume I. Medical History. First Issue. Joseph Janvier Woodward. 1879. :ffep, blank, title – XII, 869, 2 blanks, rfep. With 41 plates and 42 cuts, plus 2 additional figures.
Part II. Volume II. Surgical History. First Issue. George A. Otis. 1876: Ffep, blank, title – XII, 1024, XX, blank, rfep. With 35 plates and 747 figures. [numbering plates has no relationship with reality].
Part III. Volume I. Medical History. Being the Third Medical Volume. Charles Smart. 1888: Ffep, three blanks, title – XIII, 989, rfep. With 42 plates, 1 fold out map, and numerous unnumbered figures.
Parti III. Volume II. Surgical History. George A. Otis and D. L. Huntington. Second Issue. 1883: Ffep, blank, title – XII, 986, XXIX, blank, rfep. With 44 plates and 510 figures.
G-M 2171, 5185: “Written by Woodward, Smart, Otis, and Huntington under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General of the Army. This massive, graphically illustrated set has been called the “first comprehensive American medical book”. It is one of the most remarkable works ever published on military medicine. An index of operators and reporters appears at the end of the third surgical volume. This index makes it possible to look up any surgeon, and find the patients he treated.
Woodward published an account of diarrhoea and dysentery in Pt.2, Vol. 1 (1879) pp. 1-869. Garrison considered this the greatest single monograph on dysentery. Woodward saw the Lösch amoeba, but without recognizing its significance.
Appendix to Part I, Containing Reports of Medical Directors, and Other Documents includes on pp. 92-104, LXXXII. Extracts from a Report of the Operations of the Medical Department of the Army of the Potomac from July 4th to December 31st, 1862. By JONATHAN LETTERMAN, Surgeon, U. S. Army, Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac.”
Heirs 2300: “A decision had been made as early as 1862 by the then surgeon-general of the United States Army, Hammond (see No. 1941 ff.), to eventually publish a medical and surgical history of the Civil War and steps were taken to gather more detailed reports of the sick and wounded. The history took years to compile and was eighteen years in publication. It was prepared under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes (1817-1883) who succeeded Hammond as surgeon-general in 1864. The work consists of two volumes, the medical history and the surgical history, and each is divided into three parts. Part I of Volume I of the medical history, published in 1870, was prepared by Woodward (see No. 1985). This part included a consolidation of the reports of sick and wounded of the various military organizations and an appendix containing extracts from special reports of medical officers on medical aspects of the conflict. Part II, published in 1879, was also prepared by Woodward. It is devoted to a thorough discussion of the various gastrointestinal disorders, such as diarrhea and dysentery, that afflicted the combatants. Part III on camp fevers was published in 1888. It was completed by Charles Smart (1841-1905) who was assigned the task when Woodward died in 1884. Smart, a native of Scotland, came to the United States in 1862 and immediately became an assistant surgeon with the Union forces, eventually becoming an assistant surgeon-general. Part I of Volume II of the surgical history, published in 1870, was prepared by George Alexander Otis (1830-1881), an army surgeon and curator of the Army Medical Museum. This part contains a summary of losses in battles and engagements, as well as statistics and detailed reports of wounds and injuries of the head, face, neck, spine, and chest. Part II, published in 1876, was also prepared by Otis. Further details regarding the injuries in Part I is completed here as are cases and data on wounds of the abdomen, pelvis, and upper extremities. Part III, published in 1883, was completed by David Lowe Huntington (1834-1899) when Otis died in 1881. Huntington served in the surgeon-general's office from 1880 to 1887 and was in charge of the Army Medical Museum and Library late in his career. This part contains data and case histories on injuries of the lower extremities, as well as burns, scalds, and frostbite. Information is also included on amputations, the use of anesthetics, organization of medical services, the materia chirurgica, artificial limbs and prosthetic devices, and on the transportation of the wounded. Part I of Volume I and Part III of Volume II of the University of Iowa Libraries' copy are second issues, the former being published in 1875 and the latter a reissue of 1883.”
John Shaw Billings (1838 – 1913) was a surgeon in the Civil War, as well as a librarian and building designer. He oversaw the United State’s first comprehensive medical library, the Surgeon General’s Library. He developed the Index Medicus, and made contributions to Johns Hopkins.
