From the tremendous human tragedy of World Wars I and II arose great innovation, particularly in medicine. Groundbreaking surgical techniques, blood transfusions, antibiotics, and improved hygiene helped countless men and women survive who would have been lost in previous wars.
Collecting books about medicine in wartime is about celebrating their history and the history of all the courageous medical professionals who fought to save them.
First Edition of G.I. Nightingale
Archard, Theresa. G.I. Nightingale. The Story of an American Army Nurse. New York: W.W. Norton, 1945. $450.
First edition of the World War II nursing autobiography portraying an American nurse's experiences--horrifying, hilarious, and otherwise--in the North African campaign. Longtime nurse Theresa Archard wrote this autobiography about her experiences in North Africa and the Mediterranean during World War II. Constantly strapped for supplies and forced to beg, borrow, and improvise using resources provided by both the Americans and their Allies, Archard fought to provide the best possible care for her patients. G.I. Nightingale accurately portrays the hardship, loss, dangers, and occasional joy of life as an American war nurse. Editorial copy, with stamp on rear pastedown. Book near-fine, with a few faint white spots to cloth and minor bumping to extremities. Price-clipped dust jacket extremely good, with a bit of wear to extremities.
"We Had Already Thrown Ourselves on the Ground, and Then, Finding We Were Still Alive, Feverishly Loaded the Car"
Buswell, Leslie. Ambulance No. 10. Personal Letters from the Front. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1916. $100.
First edition of this collection of letters about an American ambulance at the front in World War I. Written by Leslie Buswell, an Englishman who came to American to become an actor, Ambulance No. 10 offers a series of letters from Buswell's tenure as a volunteer ambulanceman during World War I. After the war, Buswell became an electronics researcher until war once again interrupted his life. During World War II, Buswell was a colonel and was awarded the Bronze Star and the French Croix de Guerre. Ambulance No. 10 is widely recognized as one of the treasures of World War I literature and did much to influence the opinions of those at home. Solicitation for volunteer ambulance drivers affixed to rear pastedown. Without scarce dust jacket. Only a few minor spots of soiling to text and boards, light rubbing and toning to extremities. A handsome copy in near-fine condition.
First Edition of Collected Studies on the Pathology of War Gas Poisoning, 1920, With 39 Color Anatomical Plates
Winternitz, M.C. Collected Studies on the Pathology of War Gas Poisoning. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1920. $90.
First edition of this in-depth medical study on the effects of the various poison gasses used during World War I including chlorine, phosgene, mustard, and more, with 39 color anatomical plates and numerous figures and charts. This fascinating book delves into the horrific effects of the various poison gasses used in World War I. Fully illustrated, the book features 39 color plates, many depicting the harrowing effects of gas on the lungs of dogs. "The study of pathological lesions produced by the war gasses upon animals under controlled experimental conditions was of eminent practical importance during the war, and quite justly enlisted the interest and services of many of the foremost pathologists... The studies of Winternitz and his coworkers, which were available to the Chemical Warfare Service during the war, have now been made generally accessible in [this] comprehensive and beautifully illustrated monograph from the Yale University Press" (Science). Without uncommon dust jacket. A beautiful copy in fine condition.
"Professional Nursing Was Born Out of Bloodshed"
Sutherland, Dorothy. Do You Want To Be a Nurse? Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran, 1942. War Edition. $300.
First edition, second large printing, of this guide to become a nurse, explaining the many career options through readable stories about women working as various types of nurses, with a special chapter on nurses at war and the ways that current and prospective nurses can assist at war and on the homefront. Do You Want to Be a Nurse? offers a snapshot of the profession of nursing as of 1942. From work in a psychiatric hospital to work in a hotel, the book provides insight into what was required of nurses and what different assignments looked like from the perspective of working nurses. This edition provides a special chapter called "Nurses at War" focusing on the history of wartime nursing and the options for both trained nurses and aspiring nurses. Any early edition of this work, particularly in jacket, is quite rare. Book fine, dust jacket about-fine.
"They Have Killed Many More Thousands of People Than Bombs and Bullets"
Hill, Justina. Silent Enemies. The Story of the Diseases of War and Their Control. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1942. $150.
First edition of Justina Hill's fascinating account of disease during World War II, from malaria to typhus, with information about the cutting-edge treatments of the 1940s. Written by the groundbreaking American bacteriologist, Justina Hill, this book carefully examines the disease-related perils of war in sections titled "Jungle Germs," "Out of the East," "Through Shot and Shell," "Air-Raid Shelters and Training Camps," "Filth Diseases," "The Control of Venereal Disease," and "Versatile Viruses." Hill's writings were critically important in a war that stood to be won or lost due to diseases like malaria and typhoid. In the aftermath of the war, her writings proved equally important to those trying to rehabilitate the vast numbers of refugees and concentration camp survivors. Book fine, dust jacket with a few tiny chips to extremities. A near-fine copy.
Very Rare First Edition of The Chemical Front, 1943
Haynes, Williams. The Chemical Front. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1943. $325.
First edition of this rare popular investigation of wartime technology reliant on chemicals from explosives to vaccines to nylon. "This Chemical Age has proved very successful with budding scientists. This is another sound, dramatic popularization of chemistry, history, discovery and development of vital products and synthetics for all phases of warfare. There's a wide range of things wholly new or only half familiar, incisive information on contributions chemistry and biochemistry are making to war--and will make to peace, plastics, smokeless gunpowder, incendiaries, sulfa drugs, serums and vaccines, plasma, dehydrated foods, nylon, etc." (Kirkus). Book fine, dust jacket all but with just slight rubbing to spine ends.
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