J. Antall szerk.: Medical history in Hungary 1972. Presented to the XXIII. International Congress of the History of Medicine / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 6. (Budapest, 1972)

V. R. Harkó and T. Vida : British Contacts of the Hungarian István Weszprémi, M. D. (1723—1799)

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2 Medical History in Hungary 1972 (Comm. Hist. Artis Med. Suppl. 6.) of Obstetrics H. von Deventer (1615 — 1724) of the Netherlands and the surgery book (1738) by Professor of Anatomy and Surgery L. Heister of Germany (1683 — 1758). The original illustrations were copperplate engravings, but were reproduced in Weszprémi's books by wood blocks; and so, although the copies were exact replicas of the original, the different technique made for clumsier figures. Nonetheless the illustrations were eminently suitable for the writer's purpose and for instruction. The woodprints were probably made by József Endrédi, a student skilled in graphic art who studied at the College of Debrecen (he is known to have studied at the college in 1770 and to have died in 1811). Another interesting fact about the book is that this was Weszprémi's only publication which came out in Debrecen. The book was a success. A few years later it was a compulsory textbook for midwives, and on Gerhard van Swieten's recommendation Weszprémi was decorated for it by Maria Theresa. Both his Brief Instruction and Midwifery reflect Weszprémi's studies in England and the practical experience he acquired at London hospitals, lying-in homes and inoculation houses. A more detailed study of both works would suggest how strong this influence had been. His next work marked a departure from medical literature, but again betrayed his strong British orientation. He translated a work by Edward Wood, whose tenth edition happened to fall into his hands, from English to Hungarian. This was one of those puritanical works addressed to English farmers which represented the peasant way of life as idyllic; nonetheless even this writing suggested some knowledge of nature, the natural sciences and astronomy, and some elements of enlightenment. Weszprémi must have been motivated by didactic aims to translate this work, for he obviously wanted to give people more than a prayerbook.

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1 The translation must have been another success, for it came out in several editions. It presented for Hungarian readers the English variant of the then popular literary genre which later gave rise to idyllic rococo pastorals. Weszprémi prepared himself deliberately and for long years to write the principal work of his life, a four-volume collection of medical biographies. When he studied abroad it was already a general custom at the European universities to present some material on medical history in lectures addressed to medical students. Probably already at that time it occurred to Weszprémi that it would be useful not only to his own country if he wrote the biographies of the better-known Hungarian and Transylvanian physicians, but would also win the admiration of foreigners that "we can show up such a large number of medical doctors over and above other European nations

..." For this work he used the notes he prepared during his studies abroad, as well as material from his own library, the Debrecen College Library, and from the famous 2

1 Translated back from the Hungarian: Little Book of the Farming Man.

.. Written in England by Doctor Edward Wood, S. I. M... And now from the English tongue translated according to the Tenth Edition by István Weszprémi, M. D. in Pozsony, at the expense and with the type of Mihály Landerer, 177G.