Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1649

JONATHAN PEREIRA (1804-1853) The elements of materia medica and therapeutics. Blanchard and Lea 1852-1854 3rd American ed. Vol. I: liii [3] [65]-838 [2] 32 pp., illus., diagrs.; Vol. II: xxxvi [49]-1226 pp., 2 plates, illus., diagrs. 23.3 cm.

Pereira, a prominent member of the School of Pharmacy established by the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in 1843, died relatively young as a result of complications from an accidental fall. He began his career as a member of the Society of Apothecaries, qualified as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1825, and eventually became a member of the Royal College of Physicians. He taught throughout his career and held positions at the Aldersgate Dispensary, London Hospital, University of London; at the time of his death, he was professor of materia medica at the School of Pharmacy. Pereira was a popular and accomplished lecturer who continually revised his lectures to keep abreast of new developments, attracting large numbers of students to his classes. As a result of his teaching and writing skills, The elements of materia medica and therapeutics was enthusiastically received and became widely circulated. It is considered to be the first major English work on the subject. The first edition of his textbook was published at London in 1839-1840 and it appeared under an American imprint in 1843. This third American edition contains a number of revisions made by Pereira and was edited by Joseph Carson (1808-1876), professor of materia medica and pharmacy at the University of Pennsylvania.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 1856 (London ed., 1839-1840)