Twentieth Century Practice: An international Encyclopedia of modern medical Science by leading authorities of Europe and America. Edited by Thomas L. Stedman. In twenty volumes

Published between 1895 and 1900 by William Wood & Company, this twenty-volume series represents a concerted effort to synthesize the rapidly evolving state of medical knowledge at the dawn of the twentieth century. Edited by the lexicographer Thomas L. Stedman, the project aimed to provide a definitive reference for practitioners by soliciting contributions from a diverse panel of prominent physicians and researchers across Europe and the United States, reflecting the internationalized nature of clinical science during the late Victorian era.

The editorial vision focused on providing detailed clinical guidance rather than pure laboratory theory, covering everything from infectious diseases and toxicology to nervous disorders. Designed as a comprehensive pedagogical tool, the volumes were intended to offer a forward-looking perspective on medical practice, documenting the transition from nineteenth-century observational medicine to the more structured, diagnostic approach that would define the following decades. While praised at the time for its exhaustive scope and the prestige of its contributors, the set serves today as a significant record of the shifting paradigms in medical taxonomy and treatment protocols of the late nineteenth century.