'But all those Authors are Foreigners'

Historians who have examined the early development of American medical literature have been concerned essentially with serious works geared towards a physician audience and have been most interested in questions regarding scientific progress and professional advancement. ¹ Recently, scholars have begun to look at early publications directed at laypersons; but in this case, as with more esoteric medical genres, they have not systematically considered the relation of these works with respect to broader literary trends. ² In the half-century following the American Revolution, many US writers placed considerable emphasis on the need to create a distinct national literature, one freed from European, primarily British, conventions. Modern attention to this literary campaign has looked at novels, poems, and essays. ³ This paper, on the other hand, will focus on the pervasiveness of nationalist themes in domestic medical books of the new republic. Especially considered will be the rhetorical assertions of American writers, their pretensions to originality, and the impact of these volumes vis-à-vis foreign guides in the lay medical book market in the United States over time.