The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases (2003) is an anthologyoffantasy medical conditions edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Mark Roberts, and published by Night Shade Books. A second edition was published by Spectra in 2005.[1]
The Guide claims to be 83rd edition of a medical reference text first compiled by the fictional Dr. Thackery T. Lambshead in 1915. It contains generally humorous entries (in varying degrees of darkness) with describing fantastical diseases, which together detail the "secret medical history" of the 20th century. Each entry presents a history of the disease, its characteristic symptoms, and any cure that might exist, all written in a faux encyclopedic style. Many diseases are accompanied by illustrations. The book also includes essays about the adventures of the titular Thackery T. Lambshead, "a sort of medical Indiana Jones."[2] Appendices to the book include a history of its many editions, and biographies of the many contributing authors, named as "doctors," in which their writing career is recast as a medical career.
A sequel anthology was released in 2011 called The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities, which was co-edited by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer.
The encyclopedia makes an appearance in the novel MonstrocitybyJeffrey Thomas. It is also referenced in VanderMeer's own collection City of Saints and Madmen.
