Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1619

JOHN C GUNN (1800-1863) Gunn's domestic medicine. S. & J. Perry, and J. McReynolds 1836 8th ed. 768 pp. 22 cm.

Gunn was a physician at Knoxville, Tennessee when his handbook was first published in 1830. The initial part of his book contains a section entitled "The passions" in which Gunn presents lengthy discourses on ethics, morality, and psychology. The remainder of the book covers the etiology, symptoms, and treatment for nearly every ailment that might afflict a human being. Written strictly for the lay public, Gunn avoids the use of technical terminology and often inserts remarks on religious themes with the intent of urging his readers to live a healthy and morally upright life. Gunn's handbook became an enormously popular manual, selling thousands of copies, and was published in numerous editions and revisions until the late nineteenth century. The popularity and influence of Domestic medicine was such that it was mentioned in The adventures of Huckleberry Finn and was used extensively as a reference source by John Steinbeck in East of Eden.