Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) exerted a remarkably wide-ranging influence on the medical, political, and social life of the emerging American nation. He fulfilled the multiple roles of first American professor of chemistry, signer of the Declaration of Independence, foremost American physician, father of American psychiatry, pioneer abolitionist, educator, advocate of temperance, and proponent of prison reform. The success of these endeavors rested largely on the strength and size of his literary output, which was unparalleled by any of the other founding fathers. This bibliographic guide is the only work to identify all of Rush's published writings as well as hundreds of writings about him.

The Introduction surveys Rush's published writings on a variety of topics and places them in their late 18th and early 19th century context. Part one provides a comprehensive chronological listing of Rush's published works, including articles, pamphlets, and books in all their editions. Part one also includes comments from Rush scholars on the nature and significance of many of the works, along with references to contemporary reviews. Extensive cross-references show the relationship between documents. Aids to locating the documents in their original, reprinted, and microtext forms are also provided. Part two lists over 500 publications about Rush and his role in American history. The work includes a title and general index to part one and an author and general index to part two.