author

Edward Bascome

1804–1856

A 19th-century physician who wrote vividly about plague, fever, and public health, he explored how epidemics shaped history long before modern medicine took hold. His work blends medical argument, historical research, and a strong interest in prevention.

1 Audiobook

A History of Epidemic Pestilences From the Earliest Ages, 1495 Years Before the Birth of our Saviour to 1848: With Researches into Their Nature, Causes, and Prophylaxis

A History of Epidemic Pestilences From the Earliest Ages, 1495 Years Before the Birth of our Saviour to 1848: With Researches into Their Nature, Causes, and Prophylaxis

by Edward Bascome

About the author

Edward Bascome was a British doctor and medical writer active in the mid-1800s. His best-known book, A History of Epidemic Pestilences (1851), traces outbreaks from the ancient world to the author's own century and shows his fascination with the causes and patterns of disease.

He also wrote Prophylaxis (1849), a work on preventing illness through attention to light, air, water, and burial practices, and On the Nature and Causes of Fever (1852), based on a paper read to the Epidemiological Society. Together, these books present him as a physician deeply engaged with sanitation, fever, and the wider question of how societies respond to epidemic disease.

Available records confirm the dates 1804–1856, but detailed biographical information about his personal life appears to be scarce. What remains most clearly is his published work: a serious attempt to understand epidemics through both medical thought and historical evidence.