Croatian Medical Textbooks and Manuals of the 19th Century

Recognizing the crucial role of medicine in everyday life, it is unsurprising that medical literature in the Croatian language has been produced and studied for several centuries. To date, numerous studies have provided an overview of the history of Croatian medical literature, primarily focusing on lexicographical works, encyclopedias, and publications. Nevertheless, Croatian medical textbooks and manuals from the 19th century have been less systematically examined as a distinct corpus. This period is particularly significant in the history of Croatian scientific and cultural production: it was marked by intensified efforts to standardize the Croatian language, the development of scientific terminology, and Enlightenment-inspired initiatives aimed at making scientific knowledge accessible to the Croatian public in their native language. Works produced during this period bear witness to the development of medicine in the Croatian context and represent a valuable source for studying the history of Croatian scientific and professional terminology, as well as scientific style. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of selected Croatian medical textbooks and manuals from the 19th century, listing them and briefly describing their structure, content, and intended use. By doing so, the study seeks to supplement existing overviews of older Croatian medical literature and to highlight the significance of these works for interdisciplinary research, encompassing medical history, linguistic studies, and the broader cultural context of 19th-century Croatia.