Martindale: A Story of SuccessAinley Wade, Editor, Martindale: The Extra Pharmacopoeia (1972-1978), Bath, UK, ainley.wade@easynet.co.uk

Christiane Staiger, Jean-Philipp-Anlage 24, 63263 Neu-Isenburg, Germany, ch.staiger@gmx.de

In 1883, William Martindale (1840-1902) published the first edition

of the Extra Pharmacopoeia (‘EP’). The “Extra” in the title was

used in the classical sense of “outside”, since the book aimed to

describe drugs and medicines not included in the then current

British Pharmacopoeia (BP). Martindale had been writing a

column for the Pharmaceutical Journal answering dispensing

enquiries when its editor suggested publishing a book to avoid the

need to keep answering the same queries.

Cooperation

The book was an example of fruitful cooperation between an

expert and inventive pharmacist and a physician, Dr Wynn

Westcott (1848-1925). (see the poster 'Martindale: the men behind

the book').

Editions

The book was successful from the start: From a slim pocket

volume of 313 pages the EP has grown to its current 4160 pages.

By 1885 a 4th edition had

been published. It soon

became necessary to

include the drugs and

medicines that were included

in the BP. As well as a

pharmacy proprietor Martin-

dale was an analyst, and

references to methods of

testing began to be included.

By the 10th edition in 1901 William Martindale was in poor health

and his pharmacist son Dr William Harrison

Martindale (1874-1933) had started to take

over the running of the business. After

William's suicide in February 1902 (see

Abstract 'William Martindale and Ford

Madox Ford'), Harri continued to publish the

EP with Dr Wynn Westcott at intervals of 2

to 3 years until Westcott's death in 1925,

then on his own.

The increasing analytical and diagnostic

material was separated as a second volume

in the 15th edition (1912) and continued

until the 23rd edition in 1952, by which time

the volumes were no longer synchronised because therapeutics

was advancing at a fast rate in the 1950s.

After Harri's death in 1933, the Martindale businesses were split

and the copyright of the EP was acquired by the Pharmaceutical

Society of Great Britain, while the pharmacy and manufacturing

businesses went to Savory and Moore. The PSGB might have

seen the EP as a threat to their British Pharmaceutical Codex

(BPC). They gave the job of editing the EP to CE Corfield, already

the editor of the BPC and the Pharmaceutical Pocketbook, and

with the assistance of the Codex Revision Committee and SL

Ward (who had been Martindale's secretary) soon resumed

publication.

Editors

The Society's successive editors are shown above: Charles E

Corfield (1934-1945); Dr Kenneth Roy Capper (1949-1962);

Robert Gibson Todd (1962-1968); Norman W Blacow (1968-1972);

Ainley Wade (1972-1978); Dr James EF Reynolds (1978-1996);

Kathleen Parfitt (1996-1999), and Sean C Sweetman (since 1999).

Title

Over the years the title has changed: the major change to put the

well established name of Martindale before The Extra

Pharmacopoeia was initiated by Blacow and Wade in 1972

because that is what it was called by pharmacists worldwide. It

lasted until the 32nd edition in 1999, when it became Martindale:

The Complete Drug Reference, which recognised its enhanced

coverage of worldwide medicinal products. A former rival

publication, Squire's Companion to the British Pharmacopoeia

was incorporated in 1952

and produced the greater

coverage of 'foreign

pharmacopoeias'.

Worldwide Sales

Even in obituaries of William

Martindale in 1902 the

success of the EP across

the English-speaking world

was acknowledged and it

continued to develop. By

the 1950s there were distributors in the USA and Commonwealth

countries. The Pharmaceutical Society's Pharmaceutical Press

produced parallel volumes such as Clarke's Isolation and

Identification of Drugs (which replaced the coverage of

the old second volume). More recently there have been

Spanish and Chinese translations.

Electronic Martindale

By 1980, some commentators were predicting 'the death

of the book' and online services such as Medline were

becoming available. Under James Reynolds the text of

the book was analysed and databased for computer

phototypesetting and for online searching through Dialog

and DataStar. By collaboration with Micromedex in

Denver, Martindale became the first medical book in

Britain available on CDROM. With Clarke's, the British

National Formulary, Herbal Medicines and others, these books are

now part of 'Medicines Complete' available online and regularly

updated.

Pictures

1. Title page of the EP, 14th edition

2. Cover 17th edition

3. Chinese Cover 35th edition

4. 1st + 25th edition

5. Cover 25th, 29th, 37th edition

Table

The Extra Pharmacopoeia: Dates and Editions

Bibliography

Anon. "A considerable success". Pharm J 231 (1983): 493.

Anon. The 25th 'Martindale'. Pharm J 197 (1966): 387-390.

Capper KR. The Extra Pharmacopoeia. Pharm J 169 (1952): 351-352; 366-368.

Reynolds JEF. Advances in therapeutics as reflected in 25 years of Martindale, The Extra

Pharmacopoeia. Pharm J 218 (1977): 484-485.

Trease GE. William Martindale (1840-1902). Br J Pharm Pract 4 (1982) (March): 41-42.

Fitch WK. The two Martindales. Pharm J 231 (1983): 502-506.

Reynolds JEF. Martindale’s development and future. Pharm J 231 (1983): 507-508.

Wade A. The Martindales and their book. Pharm J 248 (1992): 787-788.

Wade A. Martindale: The Men and the Books. Pharm Historian 29 (1999): 24-32.

Wills BA. Die Entwicklung des “Martindale” und der “British National Formulary” und ihre Rolle in

der Bereitstellung von Informationen über Arzneimittel im Vereinigten Königreich. Pharmazie 41

(1986): 354-356.

W. Martindale W. Westcott W. H. Martindale C. Corfield K. Capper R. Todd N. Blacow A. Wade J. Reynolds K. Parfitt S. Sweetman