Researches in electro-allotropic physiology : uses of different qualities of electricity to cure disease

820 Broadway, New York: Jerome Kidder M'f'g. Co, 1884. First Edition. Wraps. Good. First Edition. 65 pages. Small 8vo (8 x 5 1/2 inches) Printed light pink pictorial wrappers. Label of "Library of The Saturday Afternoon Club" covering an older inked inventory (?) number with associated staining. Modern white label with inked notations affixed to front wrapper obscuring part of title. Cutout on front wrapper (1 1/8 x 1 3/8 inches) affecting printed text on inside front wrapper (purchasing instructions). Penciled note "Medical electricity" on front wrapper as well. Internally bright and clean with a few turned corners. Wraps. Post dates the death of Jerome Kidder, (who died on May 13, 1879) with a testimonial on page 53 dated Aug 12, 1884. Perhaps most valuable today as a trade catalogue/marketing document, It begins with some theory about electro-allotropic physiology and shows some examples of how it manifests to users. Then come earned awards and boilerplate how applications work from previous catalogs. Pages 26-45 are excellent wood engravings in the typical trade catalogue style, with prices and explanations of Kidder's electrical apparatus, showing current offerings. Then follows a few pages of testimonials. Other catalogs from this time period also include excerpts from scientific research used in an attempt to differentiate Kidder's offerings from period quacks. But that "section" is not in this example.

Not in Romaine or Davis and Dreyfuss. Edmonson (American Surgical Instruments, the History of their Manufacture...) records Jerome Kidder Mfg Co at 820 Broadway, New York from 1882 to 1900. This edition not in OCLC/Worldcat.

Literature:
Romaine, A Guide to American Trade Catalogues, 1744-1900 (noting only three catalogues by the firm not including this one)
Davis, Audrey B and Dreyfuss, Mark S, The Finest Instruments Ever Made: A Bibliography of Medical, Dental, Optical, and Pharmaceutical Company Trade Literature 1700-1939 (noting 7 items not including this one).