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| Format | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Author, Analytic | Cowen, David L. and Renate Wilson |
| Title, Analytic | The Traffic in Medical Ideas: Popular Medical Texts as German Imports and American Imprints |
| Journal Title | Caduceus |
| Date of Publication | 1997 |
| Volume ID | 13 |
| Issue ID | 1 |
| Location in Work | 67-80 |
| View Online | |
| Abstract | German medical texts used by German-speaking people in North America, particularly in Pennsylvania, reflected a wide range of traditions and practices brought over from the homeland. During the colonial period, American imprints were relatively few and most medical literature was imported and intended for the educated layman, such as Christian Friedrich Richter's Die Hoechst-noethige Erkenntnis vom Leibe und natuerlichen Leben. Eventually, beginning with the expansion of local presses after the Revolution, there were lower-priced books of more practically oriented domestic and veterinary medicine, which included information on superstition, charms, incantations, and sympathetic magic. This represented a "resurrection of the "Kunstbuechlein" and "books of secrets," which had a long tradition and popularity across 16th-century Europe. "Folk medicine makes use of the articles at hand in the search for health and comfort, relying heavily on tradition, experience, and faith." |
| Call Number | Digital file (PDF) |
| MKI Terms | Medicine & Health/ Folks-medicine/ 18th century/ 19th century/ German Americans -- Pennsylvania |