Title
Medical Nursing (Second Edition, c. 1942)
Author
Edgar Hull, Christine Wright, and Ann B. Eyl
Image
Description
This professional nursing textbook, authored by Hull, Wright, and Eyl and published by F. A. Davis Company, represents the second edition of Medical Nursing, issued in the early 1940s. Designed for student and graduate nurses, the book provided systematic instruction in the recognition and care of diseases, preventive health measures, and the growing responsibilities of the nursing profession. Its structured organization reflects the movement to integrate medical science directly into nursing curricula.
Condition
Blue cloth hardcover with gilt lettering to cover and spine. Moderate rubbing and edge wear to the boards with light fraying at the spine ends. Owner inscription dated 9/9/42 on the front endpaper. Pages are intact with expected toning from age. Title and copyright pages are missing, but text and illustrations remain complete. Overall, a solid, well-preserved copy for its era.
Provenance Note
This copy lacks its title and copyright pages, leaving the exact publication year uncertain. External bibliographic sources vary (1941–1943), but the internal “Preface to the Second Edition” confirms its edition, and the owner’s inscription dated 9/9/42 establishes the book was in use by that year.
Gallery
Historical context
During the first half of the 20th century, nursing education underwent a rapid professional transformation. Textbooks like Medical Nursing helped standardize instruction in hospitals and nursing schools across the United States. This second edition, published during the World War II era, includes updated material on prevention and diagnosis, reflecting both medical advances and the urgent demand for trained nurses.
Curious Facts, Ephemera, and Trivia
The ownership inscription dates this volume firmly to 1942, during World War II.
Published by F. A. Davis Company, a leading U.S. medical publisher known for nursing and clinical textbooks.
Includes early discussions of hypertension, essential hypertension, and hypotension — topics only beginning to be systematized in nursing education.
Excerpt
“Hypertension (high blood pressure): Abnormally high blood pressure is a manifestation of many different diseases… The most frequent type, however, is one in which the hypertension occurs without any known cause; this type is called essential hypertension.” (Chapter XVII, p. 177)
Why it is in the Cabinet
This textbook embodies the professionalization of nursing during a pivotal era. It served as a training tool for wartime nurses while also capturing the state of mid-20th-century medical knowledge. Its wartime inscription connects the volume to an individual nurse in training, anchoring the book in lived medical history.
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