William Cullen - Publications

Publications

Cullen's most popular and successful work was his medical textbook First Lines of the Practice of Physic, published in two volumes in 1777 and expanded with each edition until it reached four volumes in its final edition (1784).

His first book-length publication was Synopsis Nosologiae Methodicae (1769), Cullen's very influential nosology, or classification of diseases. His next publication was also a medical textbook, and it dealt with the Institutions of medicine, i.e. medical theory. Its full title was Institutions of Medicine. Part I. Physiology (1772) because it focused on physiology, which was traditionally only one part of the Institutions (pathology and therapeutics were also essential parts of medical theory). It went through two more editions (1777 & 1785).

Work on his magnum opus, First Lines of Practice of Physic, occupied much of his time in the 1770s and 1780s, but he did manage one final publication. This was his two volume A Treatise of the Materia Medica (1789), which was highly valued by other medical practitioners throughout Europe.

Thus, the following works, with their dates of publication (including multiple editions), comprise the majority of Cullen's oevre:

• Synopsis Nosologiae Methodicae (1769; 1771; 1780; 1785)
• Institutions of Medicine. Part I. Physiology (1772; 1777; 1785)
• First Lines of the Practice of Physic (1777; 1778; 1781; 1784)
• A Treatise of the Materia Medica (1789)

Cullen also published a few, shorter works (e.g. "A Letter to Lord Cathcart" in 1776), which have not been included in this list.