The Principles and Practice of Medicine, designed for the use of practitioners and students of medicine

Upon its publishing in 1892, Osler’s Principles and Practice of Medicine soon became the leading treatise on general medicine in the world for the next 40 years. He personally revised the book through seven editions. One of the quotations appearing in the front of the book is: “And I said of medicine, that this is an art which considers the constitution of the patient, and has principles of action and reasons in each case.” The quote is attributed to Plato’s “Georgias.” The misspelling of “Gorgias” identifies the early first printing of the book. The error was caught and amended early and in subsequent printings of the first edition the name is spelled correctly. The few copies of this early first edition are exceedingly rare.