Description

[Lynch and Co. Ltd], Illustrated Catalogue of Surgeons’ Instruments and Druggists’ Sundries (London, 1899)

Large 8vo (200 x 277mm); pp. xx, 352. Numerous illustrations; one folding plate; two coloured inserts concerning terms; red-printed addendum leaf.

An important copy of the very rare 1899 edition of Lynch’s catalogue, featuring many hundreds of instruments and medical supplies. The 1889 edition (title: Lynch & Co.’s Catalogue and Illustrations of Druggists’ Sundries and Surgical instruments) has only two records on WorldCat (State Library of New South Wales; New York Academy of Medicine). This second edition has no records, and in fact we have been unable to locate any copies worldwide. The Wellcome Collection features only a single piece of Lynch and Co. ephemera. Not mentioned in Claire Jones’ The Medical Trade Catalogue in Britain, 1870–1914 (2015).

The catalogue is an elegant production, boundin maroon cloth with gilt titles, and is extensively illustrated throughout. Some 3,246 items are listed in total, ranging from (alphabetically) Abdomen Trocars to Zwank’s Pessaries and (thematically) from toilet sponges to brushes, speculums, hospital furniture, sterilization chambers, anatomical models, microscopes, jars, bottles, bone saws, toenail ‘nippers’, trusses, combs, stethoscopes, weighing chairs, vetinary equipment, tinfoil, urinals, stone crushers, and on and on. A truly wonderful volume to browse and an important historical source on the cutting edge of medical apparatus at the end of the nineteenth century.

Lynch and Co. were based at Aldersgate Street in London and were one of the most prolific medical wholesalers of the late 19th century. The company succeeded Lynch and Thornton (of Bush Lane) around 1870.

Very good condition: binding a little shaken, spine worn at top and bottom and corners bumped; very good internally throughout, clean and bright.