An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

BILLROTH, Christian Albert Theodor

8 entries
  • 2181

Historische Studien über die Beurtheilung und Behandlung der Schusswunden vom fünfzehnten Jahrhundert bis auf die neueste Zeit.

Berlin: G. Reimer, 1859.

English translation in Yale J. Biol. Med., 1931, 4, 16-36, 119-48, 225-57; reprinted in book form, New Haven, 1933.



Subjects: MILITARY MEDICINE, SURGERY & HYGIENE › History of Military Medicine
  • 5608

Die allgemeine chirurgische Pathologie und Therapie.

Berlin: G. Reimer, 1863.

Billroth, professor of surgery at Zürich and Vienna, was the founder of the Vienna School of Surgery. He has also been called the founder of modern abdominal surgery, and he was one of the first to introduce antisepsis into the Continental operating room. The above work, which placed him in the front rank, was translated into ten languages. English translation from the 4th edition as General surgical pathology and therapy, N. Y., 1871, and from the 8th German edition, 2 vols., London, New Sydenham Society, 1877-78. Biography by K. B. Absolon, 3 vols., Lawrence, Kansas, 1979-1987.



Subjects: SURGERY: General
  • 3465

Ueber die Resection des Oesophagus.

Arch. klin. Chir., 13, 65-69, 1872.

First resection of the esophagus.



Subjects: Thoracic Surgery
  • 12064

Untersuchungen über die Vegetationsformen von Coccobacteria septica und den Antheil, Welchen sie an der Enstehung und Verbreitung der accidentellen Wundkrankheiten Haben. Versuch einer wissenschaftlichen Kritik der verscheidenen Methoden antiseptischer Wundbehandlung.

Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1874.

Billroth provided the first account of streptocci wound infection, calling the bacteria Coccobacteria septica. When Billroth introduced antisepic techniques in his surgical practice the number of surgical patients with these infections dramatically decreased. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: BACTERIOLOGY › BACTERIA (mostly pathogenic; sometimes indexed only to genus) › Gram-Positive Bacteria › Streptococcus , SURGERY: General › Antisepsis / Asepsis, SURGERY: General › Wound Healing
  • 5773

Die Krankheiten der Brustdrüsen.

Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke, 1880.

A monograph on cancer and other diseases of the breast, including a discussion of cancer in the male breast in the final chapter. This work is also significant in the history of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: ONCOLOGY & CANCER, PLASTIC & RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY › Mammaplasty, SURGERY: General › Diseases of the Breast
  • 3474

Offenes Schreiben an Herrn Dr. L. Wittelshöfer.

Wien. med. Wschr., 31, 161-65, 1427, 1881.

First successful resection of the pylorus for cancer, the Billroth I operation.



Subjects: GASTROENTEROLOGY › Esophagus: Stomach: Duodenum: Intestines, ONCOLOGY & CANCER, SURGERY: General , SURGERY: General › Surgical Oncology, SURGERY: General › Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery
  • 1766.603

The medical sciences in the German Universities: a study in the history of civilization. Translated by William H. Welch.

New York: Macmillan, 1924.

German edition first published in 1876.



Subjects: Education, Biomedical, & Biomedical Profession
  • 8586

Johannes Brahms and Theodor Billroth: Letters from a musical friendship, edited by Georg Fischer. Translated and edited by Hans Barkan.

Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957.

Billroth was a talented pianist and violinist who seriously considered becoming a professional musician before he became a surgeon. 

"In 1865 he [Billroth] met Brahms for the first time when the rising composer and pianist played Robert Schumann's piano concerto and his own works in Zurich. After Billroth had moved to Vienna in 1867 they became close friends and shared many musical insights. Brahms frequently sent Billroth his original manuscripts in order to get his opinion before publication, and Billroth participated as a musician in trial rehearsals of many of Brahms' chamber works before their first performances. Brahms dedicated his first two string quartets, Opus 51, to Billroth.

"Billroth and Brahms, together with the acerbic and influential Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick, formed the core of the musical conservatives who opposed the innovations of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. In the conflict, known as the War of the Romantics, Billroth supported Brahms, but was always fair and measured in his comments. "Wagner was indeed a very considerable talent in many directions," he wrote in 1888.[11]

"Billroth started an essay called "Wer ist musikalisch?" ("Who is musical?"), which was published posthumously by Hanslick. It was one of the earliest attempts to apply scientific methods to musicality. In the essay, Billroth identifies different types of amusicality (tone deafness, rhythm-deafness and harmony-deafness) that suggest some of the different cognitive skills involved in the perception of music. Billroth died in OpatijaAustria-Hungary, before he could complete the research" (Wikipedia article on Theodor Billroth, accessed 3-2020).

This English translation is the best edition, translated from Fischer's Briefe von Theodor Billroth (1895). Digital facsimile of the 1895 edition from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: Music and Medicine