The casebook, the daybook, and the diary as sources in medical historiography.

Abstract

Casebooks, daybooks and diaries were among a number of literary forms commonly used by physicians in the nineteenth century to record the details of their medical cases. Because they constitute primary sources on medical practice in that era they have value to the medical historian. To illustrate this, the writings of three Canadian physicians' -John Mackieson, Jonathan Woolverton, and James Langstaff- are discussed, together with a consideration of some of the principles relating to the study of their manuscripts, particularly in relation to the study of the history of practice in rural areas.