“ONE OF THE SEMINAL BOOKS OF THE MODERN WORLD”
NIGHTINGALE, Florence. Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not. New York: D. Appleton, 1860. Octavo, original pebbled green cloth.
First American edition, second issue, of this pioneering treatise by Florence Nightingale, “the woman who inaugurated the professional training of nurses.” A handsome copy, scarce in original cloth.
Florence Nightingale is "the greatest figure in the history of nursing" (Garrison & Morton 1612). Her Notes on Nursing "reflects the intelligence, efficiency, and administrative talent of the woman who inaugurated the professional training of nurses in England and, indirectly, in the United States… The need for radical reform in the care of the sick was made evident to Miss Nightingale… through service in the barracks hospital in Scutari during the Crimean War. So effectively did she cut through ancient regulations in establishing a clean and efficiently run army hospital that, on her return to England, she was asked to establish a training school for nurses… written with simplicity and direct common sense, enlivened by occasional sharp wit… Notes on Nursing is one of the seminal books of the modern world" (Lilly, 215). This pioneering work affirms Nightingale's importance as "a statistician, a researcher, a teacher, an administrator, a writer, an empathic care provider, a maverick and a passionate leader" (Linda Pellico, Yale School of Nursing). With D. Appleton address of "443 & 445 Broadway" on title page, indicating that this was issued after 1861; the first New York edition contains the address "346 & 348 Broadway" on title page (as in Bishop & Goldie, 15). "D. Appleton & Co. was located at 346 and 348 Broadway between 1854 and 1860. The address changes to 443 Broadway in 1861" (Johns Hopkins Libraries). Two leaves of publisher's advertisements at rear. The American edition was preceded by the 1860 English edition. See Garrison & Morton 1612; Norman 1602; PM 343.
Text clean, some spotting to text block edges only, cloth clean. An extremely good copy in the original cloth.