Parmly Copy (from the family)
Dentologia: A Poem on the Diseases of the Teeth, and Their Proper Remedies. By Solyman Brown, A.M. with Notes, Practical, Historical, Illustrative, and Explanatory by Eleazar Parmly, Dentist (1797-1874).
New York: Peabody & Co., 219 Broadway, 1833.
Price: $800.00
About the item
First edition. xii, [2], [15]-176 pp. Sleight & Van Norden , Print. 8vo. Parmly Copy (from the family). Original brown cloth, gilt stamped title on the spine, with yellow endpapers. Fine. Asbell 35.
Item #317348
"This classical poem was a marked literary production, considering the subject, and was extensively quoted at the time and favorably commented on by the best critics and writers in the profession, and had a great influence in elevating dentistry as a profession. Dr. Brown took a leading part in the three great events that lifted dentistry from a craft to a profession, i. e., the organization of the first dental college [Baltimore College of Dental Surgery], first dental journal [American Journal of Dental Science] and first dental society [American Society of Dental Surgeons], and did a great deal more for dentistry than he has been creditedwith" (Koch, History of Dental Surgery, II: 91 & 95; see pp. 89-95).
Brown's poem, in blank verse in 5 cantos, is on pages 15-80. Parmly's Appendix notes (pp. 83-174) occupy more than half of the book.
Brown was also the author of the first work on orthodontia in America (Importance of Regulating the Teeth of Children, 1841).
Kaufman, Dictionary of American Medical Biography, I: 101-02:
"The first twenty-five years of [Brown's] career were devoted to the ministry, writing and teaching, which he continued until 1832, when he became acquainted with Dr. Eleazar Parmly, who was at that time distinguished as a dentist. Their friendship developedto the extent that Dr. Parmly invited Mr. Brown to become a member of his family and instructed him in his profession" (Koch, History of Dental Surgery, II: 89).
Parmly was the younger brother of Levi Spear Parmly and the author of An Essay on the Disorders and Treatment of the Teeth. He was a "leading figure in the establishment of dentistry as a profession in America. [He] taught or worked with [a] core of early dentists in New York City, including Solyman Brown and several of Parmly's relatives" (Kaufman, Dictionary of American Medical Biography, II: 580).
Brown and Eleazar Parmly organized the Society of Surgeon Dentists of the City and State of New York, the world's first dental society. Koch, History of Dental Surgery, II: 81-88.
