PubMed2004
The German novelist J. G. Müller is one of the popular writers of the late 18th century. The encyclopaedically educated scholar, from his point of view, is obliged to support publicly the welfare of state and society. Although Müller studied medicine he did not practise making his living from his novels which dealt critically with absolutist society. Medical studies and serious illness caused a lifelong interest in medical affairs ranging from the treatment of patients, the organisation of healthcare, the distribution of medicines, charlatanism, to everybody's responsibility for health. For him the syndrome of health/illness/medical science became part of the general status of science and a metaphor for the present and future conditions of class society. This engagement led to the compliation of approximately 280 medical books as part of his library which contained more than 13,000 volumes documented in the catalogue printed for public sale in 1829: "Verzeichnib der von dem Herrn Dr. Ph. Joh. Gottw. Müller in Itzehoe hinterlassenen Bibliothek, [...]/Contents of Joh. Gottw. Müller, Ph.D., library left behind in Itzehoe [...]."The essay comprises an introduction to Müller's collection of medical books and a complete bibliographical documentation. His books cover the medical discourse from the 17th to early 19th century focusing on publications of the 18th century. They offer information on medical bibliographies, catalogues, biographies, history of medical science, reference, specific publications on a large variety of actual topics such as medical science, treatment, politics, appliances, and social as well as hygienic questions. This stock of publications reveals itself as an additional source for an understanding of book-collecting in the 18th century, the history of privately organised medical libraries, and the discourse of medical science and treatment at a time of transition from a humoral-pathological to a firmer understanding of pathological concepts around 1800.