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Chapter 10. Paratextual features in 18th-century medical writing

Framing contents and expanding the text
  • Elisabetta Lonati
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The Dynamics of Text and Framing Phenomena
This chapter is in the book The Dynamics of Text and Framing Phenomena

Abstract

This study focusses on the paratextual apparatus of 18th-century medical writing, with specific reference to tables of contents, indexes, appendices and glossaries in handbooks and compendia published in the second half of the century. The analysis, carried out on a sample of relevant works of the period, investigates both the layout (structural organisation on the page), and language issues (use of English to convey meaning). In particular, the relationship between the type and function of the paratext, along with the systematisation of contents through language are at the core of the discussion. The results of the analysis highlight the relevance of basic and complex paratextual patterns in medical writing. The interaction of layout and language frames medical contents for the reader (front matter), whereas back matter expands the main text by mapping connections and dependencies (indexes), adding lists of medicines and remedies (appendices), and explanatory terminology (glossaries).

Abstract

This study focusses on the paratextual apparatus of 18th-century medical writing, with specific reference to tables of contents, indexes, appendices and glossaries in handbooks and compendia published in the second half of the century. The analysis, carried out on a sample of relevant works of the period, investigates both the layout (structural organisation on the page), and language issues (use of English to convey meaning). In particular, the relationship between the type and function of the paratext, along with the systematisation of contents through language are at the core of the discussion. The results of the analysis highlight the relevance of basic and complex paratextual patterns in medical writing. The interaction of layout and language frames medical contents for the reader (front matter), whereas back matter expands the main text by mapping connections and dependencies (indexes), adding lists of medicines and remedies (appendices), and explanatory terminology (glossaries).

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Part I. Conceptualisations of text and framing phenomena
  5. Chapter 1. Framing framing 3
  6. Chapter 2. On the dynamic interaction between peritext and epitext 33
  7. Chapter 3. The footnote in Late Modern English historiographical writing 63
  8. Chapter 4. Threshold-switching 91
  9. Chapter 5. Framing material in early literacy 115
  10. Part II. Framing and audience orientation
  11. Chapter 6. Paratext and ideology in 17th-century news genres 137
  12. Chapter 7. “All which I offer with my own experience” 163
  13. Chapter 8. “I write not to expert practitioners, but to learners” 187
  14. Chapter 9. Book producers’ comments on text-organisation in early 16th-century English printed paratexts 209
  15. Part III. Form and layout in framing
  16. Chapter 10. Paratextual features in 18th-century medical writing 233
  17. Chapter 11. Recuperating Older Scots in the early 18th century 267
  18. Chapter 12. Paratext, information studies, and Middle English manuscripts 289
  19. Index 309
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.317.10lon

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Part I. Conceptualisations of text and framing phenomena
  5. Chapter 1. Framing framing 3
  6. Chapter 2. On the dynamic interaction between peritext and epitext 33
  7. Chapter 3. The footnote in Late Modern English historiographical writing 63
  8. Chapter 4. Threshold-switching 91
  9. Chapter 5. Framing material in early literacy 115
  10. Part II. Framing and audience orientation
  11. Chapter 6. Paratext and ideology in 17th-century news genres 137
  12. Chapter 7. “All which I offer with my own experience” 163
  13. Chapter 8. “I write not to expert practitioners, but to learners” 187
  14. Chapter 9. Book producers’ comments on text-organisation in early 16th-century English printed paratexts 209
  15. Part III. Form and layout in framing
  16. Chapter 10. Paratextual features in 18th-century medical writing 233
  17. Chapter 11. Recuperating Older Scots in the early 18th century 267
  18. Chapter 12. Paratext, information studies, and Middle English manuscripts 289
  19. Index 309
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