Introduction

The period in focus is characterised by swifter dissemination of medical and scientific knowledge in new publication channels. The continuum to the present day with its highly digitised scientific news delivery with almost real-time publication pace has its roots in these developments. The chronological line is clear from the earliest phases, with a progression from more general journals to more specialised media of communication including more specialised professional journals for learned medical doctors. By their side there were information channels targeted at lay people seeking medical knowledge, such as the polite society general magazine. Instead of the traditional chronology with the turns of the centuries as dividing lines, I shall take the years when important new channels were established as signposts, because at least in the field of the medical press ‘[n]othing of significance ends at the end of a century; nothing of significance begins at its beginning’ (Gross et al. 2002: 90). The geographical spread of the medical press in the British Isles was fairly limited in the period in focus, with London as the hub of medical printing in the seventeenth century. Scotland gained in importance and took the lead in the eighteenth century; Dublin is specified as a distribution area, and some smaller towns such as Birmingham and Bristol are occasionally mentioned.

Medicine is both a science and an art, with a theoretical side and practical applications. This twofold nature shows in medical communications in the press, as they include both theoretical articles about the basis of the discipline and instructive texts discussing how the innovations should be implemented in practice. The intended audiences played a major role, as recipients varied from highly learned medical doctors to other literate people involved in healing practices as well as lay people (Jenner and Wallis 2007). Audience adaptation shows in the styles of writing, as authors adapted their language use to their intended audiences and their background knowledge, whether professionals, educated readers interested in learning about medicine, or lay audiences (Bell 1984; 2001; Jucker 1992). Medical writers also came from different educational backgrounds and varied from highly learned professionals and experts in narrow fields to amateurs. The genres of medical writing in the early periodicals range from medical news to new science experimental reports, and from handbooks and other instructive texts to case studies and book reviews. Special attention will be paid to genre developments.