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Historical Bibliography Updated: March 10, 2020

Aequanimitas with other addresses to medical students, nurses and practitioners of medicine.

Publication Details

Philadelphia: F. Blakiston's Son & Co., 1904 CE.

A compilation of 19 addresses given by Osler in various settings. These include many of Osler's most famous essays concerning the philosophical and moral foundations of medicine. Osler wrote, "we are here not to get all we can out of life for ourselves, but to try to make the lives of others happier... The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business; a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head. Often the best part of your work will have nothing to do with potions and powders, but with the exercise of and influence of the strong upon the weak, of the righteous upon the wicked, of the wise upon the foolish."

To the second edition of 1906 Osler added three valedictory addresses that he delivered before his departure from America to assume the Regius Professorship of Medicine at Oxford, bringing the total number of essays in the volume to 22. One of the added essays is Osler's controversial "Fixed Period" address that elicited much criticism in response to his comments on "chloroform at 60." 

Between 1932 and 1953 the Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Company distributed some 150,000 copies of the third edition of this work  to graduating medical students, increasing significantly the long term impact of Osler's philosophical and moral writings.

Digital facsimile of the third impression (1914) from the Internet Archive at this link.

Catalog MetadataReference Information
Entry Number#7206
Permanent Linkhttps://staging.historyofmedicine.com/entry/9373
Author Bio LinkWikipedia ↗
External URLaequanimitas-with-other-addresses-to-medical-students-nurses-and-practitioners-of-medicine

Geographic Context

Publication place: Philadelphia

Mentioned in annotation: Oxford