{"product_id":"on-superstitions-connected-with-the-history-and-practice-of-medicine-and-surgery","title":"On Superstitions Connected with the History and Practice of Medicine and Surgery","description":"\u003ch1 class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003e\n\u003cspan role=\"text\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOn Superstitions Connected with the History and Practice of Medicine and Surgery\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan role=\"text\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eBiblioteca Obscura No. 19\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBy Thomas Joseph Pettigrew\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor much of human history, the practice of medicine existed at the crossroads of science, religion, folklore, and magic. Physicians prescribed charms alongside remedies, surgeons employed rituals inherited from antiquity, and countless diseases were attributed to invisible forces, curses, planetary influences, or supernatural intervention. In \u003cem\u003eOn Superstitions Connected with the History and Practice of Medicine and Surgery\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eThomas Joseph Pettigrew\u003c\/strong\u003e traces this fascinating relationship between healing and belief, revealing how superstition shaped medical practice across the centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing upon ancient authorities, medieval traditions, Renaissance medicine, and historical anecdotes, Pettigrew examines a remarkable variety of medical superstitions involving amulets, talismans, charms, relics, sympathetic cures, royal healing, astrology, magical remedies, and popular folk practices. His work offers an illuminating survey of the beliefs that once guided both physicians and patients, demonstrating how deeply the occult and the medical sciences remained intertwined long before the rise of modern scientific medicine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFar more than a catalogue of curious customs, this volume explores one of the most enduring questions in the history of healing: \u003cstrong\u003eWhy do belief, expectation, and faith possess such extraordinary influence over the human body?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProfessionally restored from the original edition, this volume preserves one of the nineteenth century's most comprehensive historical studies of medical superstition and the evolution of healing practices.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan role=\"text\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBonus Historical Treatises Included\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo complement Pettigrew's classic work, this edition also includes two rare and influential texts examining one of medicine's greatest mysteries—the remarkable power of the human mind to influence health and disease.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan role=\"text\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOf the Imagination, As a Cause and As a Cure of Disorders of the Body\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJohn Haygarth, M.D. (1800)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDecades before the word \u003cem\u003eplacebo\u003c\/em\u003e entered medical vocabulary, physician \u003cstrong\u003eJohn Haygarth\u003c\/strong\u003e demonstrated that expectation alone could relieve pain and restore function. His famous experiments with imitation \u003cstrong\u003e\"Perkins Tractors\"\u003c\/strong\u003e stand among the earliest controlled clinical investigations in medical history, revealing the profound influence of belief upon disease. Haygarth explores how hope, fear, confidence, and imagination may both produce illness and promote recovery—ideas that continue to shape modern medicine today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan role=\"text\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Miraculous Conformist\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHenry Stubbe (1666)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the rarest contemporary accounts of the celebrated Irish healer \u003cstrong\u003eValentine Greatrakes\u003c\/strong\u003e, whose reputed cures astonished seventeenth-century Europe. Stubbe records numerous eyewitness testimonies describing recoveries from epilepsy, paralysis, deafness, chronic pain, skin diseases, cancers, and other seemingly incurable conditions through Greatrakes' celebrated laying on of hands. Whether interpreted as divine intervention, psychological influence, or unexplained natural phenomenon, these reports remain among the most remarkable documents in the history of healing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan role=\"text\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy This Volume Matters\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe history of medicine cannot be fully understood without understanding the beliefs that accompanied it. Pettigrew's work demonstrates how superstition, religion, folklore, psychology, and early scientific inquiry coexisted for centuries, shaping both medical theory and patient experience. The two accompanying treatises extend this exploration by documenting some of the earliest investigations into what we now recognize as the placebo effect and the extraordinary influence of expectation upon the body.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor historians of medicine, students of folklore, psychology, religious healing, and the history of the occult sciences, this volume offers a unique collection of primary sources documenting the complex relationship between belief and healing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan role=\"text\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout Biblioteca Obscura\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBiblioteca Obscura\u003c\/em\u003e is a collectible series from \u003cstrong\u003eShadowborn Press\u003c\/strong\u003e devoted to forgotten historical works that have shaped humanity's understanding of the occult, folklore, witchcraft, demonology, religion, alchemy, spiritualism, and the supernatural.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach volume is carefully restored from original editions, professionally typeset, and designed to create a uniform collector's library preserving rare texts that have long remained inaccessible to modern readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan role=\"text\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBook Details\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Biblioteca Obscura\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eVolume:\u003c\/strong\u003e No. 19\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Thomas Joseph Pettigrew\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAdditional Works:\u003c\/strong\u003e John Haygarth \u0026amp; Henry Stubbe\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Premium collectible paperback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTrim Size:\u003c\/strong\u003e 4 × 6 inches\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Shadowborn Press\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCarefully restored from the original historical editions\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Shadowbornpress","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53939520700527,"sku":null,"price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/4113\/4703\/files\/cover19sho.jpg?v=1785870338","url":"https:\/\/shadowbornpress.com\/products\/on-superstitions-connected-with-the-history-and-practice-of-medicine-and-surgery","provider":"Shadowbornpress","version":"1.0","type":"link"}