List of medical textbooks

Egypt

Plates vi & vii of the Edwin Smith Papyrus at the New York Academy of Medicine

• Ramesseum medical papyri (c. 1800 BC)
• Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus (c. 1800 BC)
• London Medical Papyrus (c. 1600 BC)
• Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550 BC)
• Edwin Smith Papyrus (c. 1500 BC) - Earliest mention of the brain; the pulse; the role of the heart in circulating blood, but not complete circulation.^[1] It is the world's oldest surgical textbook,^[2] containing descriptions of the zygomatic bone, dura mater, cerebrospinal fluid, and nasal cavity.^[2]
• Brugsch Papyrus (c. 1200 BC)

Greece

• Hippocratic Corpus (c. 400 BC to 200 AD) - Contains many important medical treatises including the Hippocratic Oath.^[3] Compared with the Egyptian papyri, the Hippocratic writings exhibit an improved understanding of brain structure and function. It correctly attributed the primary control of the body's function to the brain.^[2]
• Galenic corpus (c. 200 BC)
• De Materia Medica (Dioscorides) (c. 50 AD)
• Medical Compendium in Seven Books (c. 600 AD)

China

• Huangdi Neijing (c. 300 BC) - Most authoritative Chinese source on medical matters for over two millennia.^[4] It contributed to the Chinese understanding of anatomy,^[5] and it continues to be used as an influential reference work for practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.^[6] The book contains many guidelines and recommendations for the prevention of chronic diseases and micronutrient deficiencies such as beriberi, xerophthalmia, and goitre.^[7]
• Wushi'er Bingfang (c. 200 BC)
• Shennong Ben Cao Jing (c. 200 AD)
• Shanghan Lun (c. 220 AD)
• Compendium of Materia Medica (c. 1578 AD)

India

• Sushruta Samhita (c. 300 BC) - Early description of cataract surgery.^[8] The Sushruta Samhita emphasizes the importance of anatomical structure and function,^[9] and it contains the earliest written description of the pedicled flaps.^[10] It was translated into Arabic during the latter part of the 8th century.^[9]
• Charaka Samhita (c. 300-500 AD) - One of the fundamental texts of Ayurveda medicine, it was translated into Chinese, Arabic, and Tibetan languages.^[11]
• Kashyapa Samhita
• Bower Manuscript (c. 400)

Islamic Golden Age

A translated copy of the Canon of Medicine in Latin (1484)

• De Gradibus (c. 800)
• Adab al-Tabib (c. 800)
• Book of the Ten Treatises of the Eye (c. 800)
• Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah (c. 800)
• Kitab al-Taṣrif (c. 1000) - First surgical encyclopedia.^[12]
• Book of Optics (c. 1000) - Exerted great influence on Western science.^[13] It was translated into Latin and it was used until the early 17th century.^[14] The German physician Hermann von Helmholtz reproduced several theories of visual perception that were found in the first Book of Optics, which he cited and copied from.^[15]
• The Canon of Medicine (c. 1000 AD) - Described by Sir William Osler as a "medical bible" and "the most famous medical textbook ever written".^[16] The Canon of Medicine introduced the concept of a syndrome as an aid to diagnosis, and it laid out an essential framework for a clinical trial.^[17] It was translated into Latin by Gerard de Sabloneta and it was used extensively in European medical schools.^[17][18] It also became the most authoritative text on anatomy until the 16th century.^[19]
• Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon (c. 1200 AD): First description of the pulmonary circulation system,^[20] and the first description of the presence and function of coronary circulation.^[21]

• Anatomy Charts of the Arabs (c. 1900)

Anatomy

Gray's Anatomy (1918)

• Gray's Anatomy
• Gray's Anatomy for Students

Anesthesiology

• Practical Management of Pain
• Textbook of Pain - Most comprehensive scientific reference text on pain.^[22] The textbook's founding editors were Patrick David Wall and Ronald Melzack, who jointly introduced the gate control theory into the field of pain research.^[22]

Cardiology

• Hurst's the Heart

General reference

Reference guides

• Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment
• Goldman-Cecil Medicine
• Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics
• The Merck Manuals
• The Oxford Textbook of Medicine
• The Principles and Practice of Medicine

Dictionaries and encyclopedias

• Miller-Keane Encyclopedia & Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health
• Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary
• The Modern Home Physician

Handbooks

• Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine

National and international publications

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) - Official publication of the American Psychiatric Association
• International Classification of Diseases (ICD) - Official publication of the World Health Organization

Internal medicine

• Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine

Neuroscience

• Principles of Neural Science

Oncology

• Abeloff's Clinical Oncology
• Skin Cancer: Recognition and Management

Surgery

• Schwartz's Principles of Surgery