Notes on Nursing
It is as easy to put out a sick baby's life as it is to put out the flame of a candle.There are three versions of Notes On Nursing. The above quotes about taking care of a baby appear only in the third edition which is called Notes on Nursing for the Labouring Classes, first published in April 1861 "in a cramped little ninety-six page volume, bound either in thin blue paper and selling at six pence, or pink flexible cloth at seven pence. In 1868 a slightly larger, 114 pages, version was printed and reprinted for the next 41 years, in English, German, and Italian, numbering in the least 74,000 copies."A few hours will do for baby, both in killing and curing it, what days will not do for a grown-up person.
Rumor has it she never got a royalty during her life because of a bad contract during the first printing but this has yet to be verified to my knowledge. If she did recieve monies for the book it was the only "nursing" related money she ever made in her life.
A brand new book I got at The Florence Nightingale Museum is titled Florence Nightingale's Notes On Nursing, (Revised, with additions), edited with an introduction, notes, and guide to identification by Victor Skretkowicz, published by Bailliere Tindall, in association with the Royal College of Nursing, 24-28 Oval Road London NW1 7DX. At last all versions in one volume with extensive notes. A must for those who have wondered about all the confusions over this landmark publication.
cjm 6-9-98
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