In a world riddled with diseases, there is only one that has been eliminated from humanity: smallpox. Learn about the compelling history of this disease, why it still exists in laboratories and research facilities around the world, and how what we learn about it now may affect humanity’s future.

Rhazes, a great clinician, ranks with Hippocrates, Aretaeus, and Sydenham as one of the original portrayers of disease. His description of small-pox and measles is the first authentic account in literature. This edition contains a list of all the editions and translations, the Greek translator's preface, Channing's Latin preface, Haller's preface, and an index in both Arabic and English. -- H.W. Orr.

A history of the global spread of vaccination during the Napoleonic Wars, when millions of children were saved from smallpox.

"Collection of incunabula and early medical prints in the library of the Surgeon-general's office, U.S. Army": Ser. 3, v. 10, p. 1415-1436.

Medicine and Healing in the Premodern West traces the history of medicine and medical practice from Ancient Egypt through to the end of the Middle Ages. Featuring nearly one hundred primary documents and images, this book introduces readers to the words and ideas of men and women from across Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, from prominent physicians to humble healers. Each of the book’s ten chronological and thematic chapters is given a significant historical introduction, in which each primary source is described in its original context. Many of the included source texts are newly translated by the editor, some of them appearing in English for the first time.