Diseases of the heart: their diagnosis and treatment

San Francisco: H.H. Bancroft & Company, 1867. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. Publisher’s cloth, title and author in gilt on spine; small tear to the back of the spine, minor waterstain to bottom of first few gatherings, otherwise a fine copy from the library of Edward Shapiro, M.D. with his bookplate on the paste-down. First and only edition of Wooster’s first book. This is a fascinating look at heart disease from the physician’s point of view. The author endeavors to point out where discrepancies can arise in diagnosing cardiological illness, especially with respect to specific diagnostic signs. He treats endocarditis pericarditis, disease of the semilunar valves of the aorta, valves of the pulmonary aretery, inorganic murmurs (and how to distinguish between organic murmurs),hypertrophy, thoracic aneurisms, and many other ailments. He also proposes general rules for the diagnosis of heart disease as well as for treatment.

“In the present era of electronic enlightenment it is scarcely necessary to proclaim once again the familiar doctrine that medicine as practiced in any age and at every place reflects a combination of technical and social or ecologic elements. This is well known and has become almost a truism. But occasionally we encounter a piece of medical writing that illustrates the combination of elements in an unusual way, and our interest is at once aroused. These considerations apply to Dr. David Wooster’s Diseases of the heart, a work of 209 pages issued in 1867 by H. H. Bancroft of San Francisco, the famous historian and publisher” (Jarcho).

Wooster (1825-1894) was born in Jasper, N. Y. He served during the Mexican War, and completed his medical degree in 1849. The following year he moved to northern California for farming and gold. In 1856 he moved to San Francisco where he practiced medicine and edited the Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal.

According to an article published by the owner of this book, Wooster’s Diseases of the heart is often regarded as the first English-language medical book published in California.

See Shapiro, “California’s ‘First’ Medical Book,” California Medicine, Vol. 108, No. 4), pp. 253-262, April, 1968; Cordasco, 60-2036; Jarchho, Saul, “Cardiology after the California Gold rush (Wooster, 1867),” The American Journal of Cardiology, Vol. 16, pp. 881-886, December, 1965.