Abt's Pediatrics

Philadelphia and London: W.B. Saunders Co., 1923-1826. First edition.

LANDMARK 9-VOLUME ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN PEDIATRICS EDITED BY EMINENT CHICAGO PEDIATRICIAN.

Nine large hardcover volumes, 9 3/4 inches tall, green cloth bindings, gilt title to spines. Vol. !, i-xi, 1240 pp; Vol. II, i-ix, 1025 pp; Vol. III, i-ix, 1051 pp; Vol. IV, i-xii, 1271 pp; Vol. V, i-ix, 865 pp; Vol. VI, i-ix, 736 pp; Vol. VII, i-ix, 879 pp; Vol. VIII, i-viii, 1102 pp; General Index, [2], 249 pp. Some corners bumped, spots to covers, scattered marginal notations first few pages of Vol. I; bindings, text and plates otherwise unmarked. A scarce very good complete set of this landmark early 20th century compilation of American pediatrics.

ISAAC ARTHUR ABT (1867 – 1955), began his practice in internal medicine but gravitated to pediatrics, with a particular interest in nutrition, and became one of the earliest specialists in the field. After a year at the University of Chicago preparatory school he entered the 3-year pre-medical program at Johns Hopkins University in the Fall of 1886. At Johns Hopkins Isaac was greatly influenced by the outstanding pathologist, William Henry Welch. In 1889 he entered the Chicago Medical College's two-year course. Abt took his internship at Michael Reese Hospital, 1891-1892. Then Abt took the usual "grand tour" of Europe for his postgraduate training, leaving in the fall of 1892 and returning in January 1894. From 1894 to 1897 he was assistant in pediatrics and instructor in physiology, histology, and physiology of the nervous system at the Chicago Medical College (Northwestern University Medical School). In 1909, Abt became Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern University. He remained at Northwestern until his retirement in 1939. His most important work in support of pediatric hospital facilities began in 1910 when Edward Morris, of the meat-packing family, called on him with a proposal for a children's hospital. This hospital, to be named after Edward's mother, Sarah, was to be the finest in Chicago. The Sarah Morris Hospital was acknowledged to be one of the finest in the country, comparable to the Harriet Lane Home at Johns Hopkins. Abt's comprehensive knowledge of the rapidly expanding literature of pediatrics was in good part the result of his service as Editor of the Year Book of Pediatrics from 1902 to 1940. He was one of the founders of the American Journal of the Diseases of Children. His major work, the 8-volume System of Pediatrics, was published in 1923-1926 (offered here). This became a classic in its field. With Edward Lasker he developed an electric breast pump that became highly successful. He was the first physician in Chicago to administer diphtheria antitoxin, and he was the first American pediatrician to use protein milk in the treatment of diarrhea. Abt pioneered in the early work on incubators for premature infants. Abt was an active and productive member of numerous organizations. He was Chairman of the American Medical Association's Section on Pediatrics in 1911, and served as the Section's representative in the House of Delegates from 1918 to 1935. In 1925 he presented an informative and detailed report before the House on the methods of sale and promotion of infant foods that has served as a standard ever since. He also was a member of a joint committee of the AMA and the National Education Association. He was Chairman of the Committee on Medical Care for Children at President Hoover's White House Conference in 1930. Abt had been made a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in 1927. Isaac Arthur Abt became one of the most prominent pediatricians in the United States and for many years enjoyed an international reputation as well. Volume 1 contains

GARRISON-MORTON No. 6353. GARRISON, Fielding Hudson (1870 - 1935) History of pediatrics. In I. Abt, System of Pediatrics, 1, 1-170. Philadelphia, 1923.