If I'm trying to find information on a less-than-famous historical physician, where should I look?

by yoahitsnoah

I'm trying to find any and all information I can on Maximilian Stoll, the Austrian physician from the 18th century, in an attempt to contextualize a Latin text I'm working on translating ("Praelectiones in Diversos Morbos Chronicos"). However, all of the information I have found is limited, and all the sources I've found feature the same copy-pasted blurb.

Would anyone have any ideas or favourite spots to check for more information? Most that I have learned about medical history thus far has been from physicians and historians talking about it and mentioning where to look for more information so I'm a bit out of my depth.

Thank you!!

ThePurplePantywaist

I suppose that OP is not physically in Austria, but I do not know if they speak German.

The Austrian National Library does not include any work about him in English, however below are two links to 2 few excerpts, which can maybe can be machine-translated.

If they speak German, here are a few works about him, of which at least some can be digitalized by libraries or are available via interlending. I can not speak to the quality of these works, I mostly have them from Felix Czeike's works:

  • Agathon Wernich / August Hirsch: Biographisches Lexikon der hervorragenden Aerzte aller Zeiten und Völker. Wien [u.a.]: Urban u. Schwarzenberg 1884-1888
  • Richard Bamberger [Hg.]: Österreich-Lexikon in zwei Bänden. Wien: Verlags-Gemeinschaft Österreich-Lexikon 1995
  • Register zu den Nachträgen in Wurzbachs "Biographischem Lexikon des Kaiserthums Österreich". Wien 1923
  • Henry E. Sigerist: Große Ärzte. Eine Geschichte der Heilkunde in Lebensbildern. München: Lehmann 1965, S. 550
  • Erna Lesky: Die Wiener medizinische Schule im 19. Jahrhundert. Wien [u.a.]: Böhlau 1965 (Studien zur Geschichte der Universität Wien, 6), S. 39 ff.
  • Helmut Wyklicky: Ergänzungen zur Kenntnis des Wiener Klinikers Maximilian Stoll. In: Wiener klinische Wochenschrift. Wien / New York: Springer 69 (1957), Nummer 28
  • Karl Holubar: Maximilian Stoll (1742-1787) zum 200. Todestag. In: Wiener klinische Wochenschrift. Wien / New York: Springer 99 (1987), S. 329 ff.
  • Max Neuburger: Anton de Haen und Maximilian Stoll als Neuropathologen. In: Wiener klinische Wochenschrift. Wien / New York: Springer 63 (1913), S. 1091 ff, S. 1147 ff.
  • Elisabeth Herrmann: Beiträge zur Geschichte des Lehrkörpers der Medizinischen Fakultät der Universität Wien im 18. Jahrhundert. Diss. Univ. Wien. Wien 1981, S. 114 ff.

(The thesis by E. Herrmann also covers his teacher Anton de Haen.)

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Available online is the article about him in Historisches Lexikon Wien : in 5 Bänden : 5. Historisches Lexikon Wien / Felix Czeike - of course that could be the "blurb" OP is refering to (or could be this one or this one - the later 2 are machine-readable and could be easier translated.)

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The Archive of Vienna has the file from his probate and estate proceedings, digitalization possible.

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edit: How could I forget contemporary newspaper articles!

https://anno.onb.ac.at/

There are over 100 hits, including obituaries, at least partly machine-readable.