"ONE OF THE SEMINAL BOOKS OF THE MODERN WORLD"
NIGHTINGALE, Florence. Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not. London: Harrison, [1860]. Octavo, original limp pebbled black cloth gilt; pp. 79. Housed in a custom cloth clamshell box.
First edition, third issue, of this pioneering treatise by Florence Nightingale—"the woman who inaugurated the professional training of nurses"—in original gilt-stamped cloth.
"Florence Nightingale's 79-page monograph reflects the intelligence, efficiency, and administrative talent of the woman who inaugurated the professional training of nurses in England and, indirectly, in the United States… The need for radical reform in the care of the sick was made evident to Miss Nightingale… through service in the barracks hospital in Scutari during the Crimean War. So effectively did she cut through ancient regulations in establishing a clean and efficiently run army hospital that, on her return to England, she was asked to establish a training school for nurses… Notes on Nursing was written with simplicity and direct common sense, enlivened by occasional sharp wit… Notes on Nursing is one of the seminal books of the modern world" (Lilly, 215). This pioneering work affirms Nightingale's importance as "a statistician, a researcher, a teacher, an administrator, a writer, an empathic care provider, a maverick and a passionate leader" (Linda Pellico, Yale School of Nursing). Third issue, with advertisements on the endpapers and "The right of Translation is reserved" on the title page. The first issue was published in 1859. Garrison & Morton 1612. Norman 1602. Owner inkstamp.
Text with mere trace of scattered foxing, bright gilt cloth. A beautiful about-fine copy, highly desirable in original unrestored cloth.