author
William Martindale
1840–1902
Best known for launching The Extra Pharmacopoeia in 1883, he helped create one of pharmacy's most enduring reference works. His career bridged practical drug manufacturing, scientific testing, and professional leadership in British pharmacy.
1 Audiobook
Coca and Cocaine : Their history, medical and economic uses, and medicinal preparations
by William Martindale
About the author
Born in 1840, he trained in pharmacy from a young age, apprenticing with his great-uncle before continuing his studies at the Pharmaceutical Society's school in Bloomsbury Square, London. He went on to work in pharmaceutical manufacturing and analysis, building a reputation in a period when new medicines and preparations were appearing quickly.
In 1883, he established The Extra Pharmacopoeia, a reference designed to keep pace with developments beyond the official pharmacopoeia. That work later became known simply as Martindale and grew into a standard drug reference used far beyond his own lifetime.
Martindale was also a prominent figure in the profession itself, serving as President of the Pharmaceutical Society from 1899 to 1900. He died in 1902, but his name remained closely tied to one of the most important reference books in modern pharmacy.