WOOSTER, DAVID. 1825-1894.


Diseases of the Heart: Their Diagnosis and Treatment. San Francisco: H.H. Bancroft & Company, 1867. 8vo. Publisher's blue cloth. Rubbed, minor foxing.FIRST EDITION of what is believed to be the first English-language medical book published in California. Published by Hubert Howe Bancroft, it was Wooster's first book. Wooster, a descendant of the Revolutionary War general who shared his name, was an Army assistant surgeon during the Mexican War, then received an M.D. degree in 1849 before moving to California to mine for gold. In 1856 he began practicing medicine in San Francisco, and edited the Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal from 1858 to 1861, after which he returned to the military as a surgeon for the duration of the Civil War.