Mackintosh, A (2017) The Patent Medicines Industry in late Georgian England: A Respectable Alternative to both Regular Medicine and Irregular Practice. Social History of Medicine, 30 (1). pp. 22-47. ISSN 0951-631X
Abstract
Patent medicines in late Georgian England have been misunderstood. Rather than just being visible constituents of irregular practice, they were a separate, substantial, industry providing a wide range of popular products. Most of the prominent medicine owners were either reputable tradesmen who did not practice medicine, or medical professionals; they operated from fixed premises for substantial periods of time, and they employed practices specific to the industry. A minority of nationally-available medicines were indeed owned and distributed by irregulars who were regarded as quacks by contemporaries, yet even these participants attempted to follow regular medicine. Wholesaling was initially led by London booksellers, but later moved to medicine specialists and chemists. The patent medicines industry was a separate entity, different from regular medicine and from irregular practice though linked to both of them, and restoring it to its rightful place changes our picture of late Georgian healthcare.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for the Social History of Medicine. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Social History of Medicine following peer review. The version of record: Mackintosh, A (2016) The Patent Medicines Industry in late Georgian England: A Respectable Alternative to both Regular Medicine and Irregular Practice. Social History of Medicine, 30 (1). pp. 22-47. ISSN 0951-631X, is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkw054. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Patent medicines; medical market; industry; booksellers; quacks |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 26 Apr 2016 12:27 |
Last Modified: | 28 May 2018 00:38 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkw054 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/shm/hkw054 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:98462 |