"The core of the book consists of a business-by-business guide to the industry's records. Each entry includes a brief history of the company, a summary of its surviving archives and a bibliography of related publications. Similar entries exist for trade associations and schools of pharmacy associated with the industry and there are two appendices listing small collections of records held and relevant public records." "The historical compendium is supplemented by three introductory essays, written by leading academics in the field, outlining the history of the industry and describing the nature and uses of the archival records which it has created. These essays are supplemented by a select chronology of pharmaceutical legislation and a select bibliography of histories relating to the pharmaceutical industry in general. A user's guide helps readers understand how the business entries were constructed and is supplemented by a glossary of terms used in the book." "As such, this book will no doubt prove an invaluable resource to researchers undertaking comparative studies of the pharmaceutical industry, the history of medicine and the retailing of medical drugs."--BOOK JACKET.