author
Henry Weightman Stelwagon
1853–1919
A leading American dermatologist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he wrote practical medical books that helped generations of students and physicians recognize and treat skin disease. His work is especially remembered for bringing clear, systematic teaching to a fast-growing field.
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About the author
Born in Philadelphia in 1853, Henry Weightman Stelwagon became a physician and built his career around dermatology at a time when the specialty was taking shape in the United States. Contemporary editions of his books identify him as a professor of dermatology at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and as a dermatologist to Howard and Philadelphia Hospitals.
He is best known as the author of Essentials of Diseases of the Skin and A Treatise on Diseases of the Skin. These books were written for medical students and practicing doctors, and they were revised through multiple editions, which suggests they were widely used and valued as teaching texts.
Stelwagon died in 1919. An obituary published in JAMA Dermatology soon afterward recognized him as an important figure in American dermatology, and his books remain part of the historical record of how skin disease was studied and taught in his era.