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Constructing the Industry

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The Patent Medicines Industry in Georgian England

Part of the book series: Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Modern History ((MBSMH))

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Abstract

This chapter describes the owners and their products, and it puts forward two main points. One is that patent medicines were produced and traded as an industry which was organised, respectable, stable and profitable, with its own business practices. The other is that the ownership of these medicines was mostly distinct from irregular medicine, including quackery. The industry blossomed in the middle of the eighteenth century, and the owners can be divided into six groups: market leaders, other tradesmen and tradeswomen, medical professionals, elite owners, irregulars and local owners. Some biographical and commercial details are provided for over twenty owners. Numerical analysis reveals that the majority of the owners of nationally advertised medicines were market leaders, tradesmen or medical professionals, not irregular practitioners (‘quacks’).

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  1. Centre for History and Philosophy of Science, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Alan Mackintosh

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  1. Alan Mackintosh
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Correspondence to Alan Mackintosh .

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Mackintosh, A. (2018). Constructing the Industry. In: The Patent Medicines Industry in Georgian England. Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Modern History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69778-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69778-9_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69777-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69778-9

  • eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)

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