Every man his own doctor : or, The poor planter's physician : prescribing plain and easy means for persons to cure themselves of all, or most of the distempers, incident to this climate, and with very little charge, the medicines being chiefly of the growth and production of this country.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tennent, John, 1710-1748, author.

Contributor:

Library Company of Philadelphia, owner.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medicine, Popular.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 volume (64, iii, iii pages)).

Edition:

The fourth edition.

Place of Publication:

Richmond : printed and sold by Samuel Pleasants, 1802.

Summary:

The first American domestic medicine manual. Tennent was a Virginia doctor controversial for advocating Native American herbal remedies. The earliest surviving copy is of the second edition, Williamsburg, 1734. Franklin published another edition and sold it for a shilling, with a discount for those who gave it away in charity. It was reprinted at least 7 more times, including a German edition.

Notes:

Collection reference: 11045.D.6

Please note that some of the metadata for this document has been drawn from the Library Company of Philadelphia's catalogue, and 'An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform', compiled by Christopher Hoolihan.

This anonymously published treatise is attributed to John Tennant, a Scottish-born physician (of uncertain training) who emigrated to Virginia in 1727, where he became both a landowner and medical practitioner. Tennant provides remedies for forty-four common disorders based entirely on a vegetable materia medica, and often preceded by copious bleeding.

Description based on online resource (last viewed March 21, 2025).