The final text of these lectures, which Osler characterized as "an aeroplane flight over the progress of medicine through the ages," remained unfinished at Osler’s death, and Osler requested in his will that this and his other unfinished works not be published. In spite of this, the work was prepared for the press by Harvey Cushing, Edward Streeter, Fielding Garrison, and Leonard Mackall, and published two years after Osler's death. It remains one of the most interesting short histories of medicine, written in Osler’s usual charming style, and is still one of the best books with which to commence the study of medical history.

This was the first text that my historically-oriented physician father suggested I read regarding the history of medicine when I was about ten years old. Six and a half decades later I cannot remember how much of the text I comprehended at the time, but I recall that it made a favorable impression. We might say that it began to lay the groundwork for what came later.... - JMN.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.