Surgical treatments date back to the prehistoric era. Therefore, it can be exciting as a collector to find books written on surgery dating back many years. If a collector is interested in finding information about surgeries during wartime, one title to look for is Notes On the Surgery of the War in The Crimea with Remarks On the Treatment of Gunshot Wounds by George Macleod. This book was instrumental for many surgeons during the Civil War as they used this book for reference. Early editions can be found to be worth thousands of dollars! There is a wide array of documents for each body part for collectors looking for surgical practices of a specific body part. Fortunately, medical practices have always been recorded and documented, so there are sure to be much to choose from for any collector!
Woodall, John. The Surgeons Mate or Military and Domestique Surgery. Nicholas Bourne: London (1639). 2nd Edition; Full title-The Surgeons Mate or Military and Domestique Surgery; Discouering faithfully and plainly ye method and order of ye surgeons chest, ye uses of the instruments, the vertues and operations of ye medicines, with ye exact cures of wounds made by gun-shott, and otherwise as Namely: Wounds, Apos fumes, Ulcers, Fistula's, Fractures, dislocations, with ye most easie and safest wayes of Amputation or dismembring. The cures of the Scuruey, of ye fluxes of ye belly, of ye Collicke and Iliaca Passia, of Tenasmus and Exitus Ani, and of the Calenture, with A Treatise of ye cure of ye Plague
Kettilby, Mary. A Collection Of above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery. King's-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard: London (1728). 4th Edition; Full title-A Collection Of above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick and Surgery; For the Use of all Good Wives, Tender Mothers, and Careful Nurses. By several Hands
White, Charles. Cases in Surgery, with remarks. W. Johnston: London (1770).
Bell, Benjamin. A System of Surgery. Dobson: Philadelphia (1791). Other author-Nicholas B. Waters
Bell, Charles. System of Operative Surgery, Founded on the Basis of Anatomy. Hale and Hosmer: Hartford (1812). 2 volumes; First American Edition
Averill, Charles. A Short Treatise on Operative Surgery. Jackson, Borough: London (1825). 2nd Edition; Full title-A Short Treatise on Operative Surgery, Describing the Principal Operations as They Are Practised in England and France; Designed for the Use of Students in Operating on the Dead Body
Bell, John. The Principles of Surgery. Thomas Tegg: London (1826). 2nd Edition; 4 volumes; Full title-The Principles of Surgery as They Relate to Wounds, Ulcers, Fistulae, Aneurisms, Wounded Arteries, Fractures of the Limbs, Tumors, The Operations of Trepan and Lithotomy
Bell, Charles. The hand. Pickering: London (1833).
Lawrence, William. A Treatise on the Diseases of the Eye. John Churchill: London (1833).
Dupuytren, Guillaume. Clinical lectures on Surgery Delivered at Hotel Dieu, in 1832. De Silver, Jr., and Thomas: Philadelphia (1833). Translated by A. Sidney Doane
Blandin, Philippe Frederic. Treatise on Topographical Anatomy. Moore and Payne: New York (1834). Full title-Treatise on Topographical Anatomy; or, the anatomy of the regions of the Human Body, Considered in Its Relations with Surgery and Operative Medicine
Velpeau, Alfred A.L.M. New elements of operative surgery. Duff Green: Washington (1835). Appendix of notes by Granville Sharp Pattison
Hunter, John. Lectures on the Principles of Surgery. Haswell, Barrington, Haswell: Philadelphia (1839). 2 volumes; Notes by James F. Palmer
Warren, John C. Etherization; With Surgical Remarks. William D. Ticknor and Co.: Boston (1848).
Malgaigne, J. F. Operative Surgery, Based on Normal and Pathological Anatomy.. Blanchard and Lea: Philadelphia (1851). Translated from the French by Frederick Brittan; First American edition
Erichsen, John Eric. The Science and Art of Surgery. Blanchard and Lea: Philadelphia (1854). Editor-John H. Brinton
Eve, Paul F. A Collection of Remarkable Cases in Surgery. J. B. Lippincott: Philadelphia (1857).
Adams, William. On the Reparative Process in Human Tendons after subcutaneous division for the cure of deformities. John Churchill: London (1860). Full title-On the Reparative Process in Human Tendons after subcutaneous division for the cure of deformities; with an account of the appearances presented in fifteen post-mortem examinations in the human subject; also a series of experiments on rabbits, and a resume of the English and foreign literature of the subject
Macleod, George H.B. Notes On The Surgery Of The War In The Crimea With Remarks On The Treatment of Gunshot Wounds. J.B. Lippincott: Philadelphia (1862). First American Edition
Sims, J. Marion. Clinical notes on uterine surgery. William Wood and Co.: New York (1866). First American Edition
Gosselin, L. Clinical Lectures on Surgery, Delivered at the Hospital of La Charite. Henry C. Lea: Philadelphia (1878). Translated by Lewis A. Stimson
Senn, Nicholas. Experimental Surgery. W. T. Keener: Chicago (1889).
Stemen, C. B. Railway Surgery: A Practical Work on the Special Department of Railway Surgery. J. H. Chambers and Co.: St. Louis, MO (1890). Full title-Railway Surgery: A Practical Work on the Special Department of Railway Surgery: For Railway Surgeons; and Practitioners in the General Practice of Surgery
Morton, William J. The X-Ray; or Photography of the Invisible and its value in Surgery. American Technical Book Co: New York (1896). Other author-Edwin W. Hammer
Ricketts, Benjamin M. The surgery of the heart and lungs. The Grafton Press: New York (1904). Full title-The surgery of the heart and lungs: A history and resume of surgical conditions found therein, and experimental and clinical research in man and lower animals, with reference to pneumonotomy, pneumonectomy and bronchotomy, and cardiotomy and cardiorrhaphy
Bernheim, Bertram M. Surgery of the Vascular System.. J.B. Lippincott: Philadelphia (1913).
Ballance, Charles Alfred. Essays on the surgery of the temporal bone. Macmillan: London (1919). 2 volumes; Other author-Charles David Greene
Campbell, Willis C. A Text-Book on Orthopedic Surgery. W.B. Saunders: Philadelphia (1930).
Kelly and Ward. Electrosurgery. W.B. Saunders: Philadelphia (1932).
King, Edgar Samuel John. Surgery of the heart. Williams and Wilkins Company: Baltimore (1941).
Leonardo, Richard A. History of surgery. Froben Press: New York (1943).