[Histonet] AFIP Manual

[Bob Richmond]

>
> The edition of the "AFIP Manual" - Manual of Histologic Staining Methods
> of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Third Edition - most of us are
> familiar with was edited by Lee G. Luna. I recall buying a copy of it in
> 1968 when I was a resident. I now have a copy of what I think is the last
> printing, which I bought in 1992.
>

Googling it, I found that this book is long out of print, extremely scarce
and expensive, and I'm not sure it's available online. I think it should be
reprinted, or at least made available online. (I note that Dezna Sheehan's
somewhat later book is also out of print.)

The publication history of the AFIP manual before 1968 is rather murky. The
"first edition", never formally published, was loose mimeographed notes
written by (Miss) Mary Francis Gridley (1908-1954), which after her early
death (of acute leukemia) was published with no definite authorship in
1957, and probably revised in 1960. I recall seeing this edition more than
50 years ago, but don't remember the color of the cover. I can't find an
online record of the 1960 edition.

The 1957 edition is available online from Google Books at
https://tinyurl.com/y8wosf2j

Apparently there was a 4th edition in 1992, but I found no record of it.

Histotechnologists in my day regarded the book as well-nigh scriptural. It
was not a very satisfactory reference for a pathologist, since it did not
go into detail either on theory or on interpretation. I much preferred R.D.
Lillie's Histologic Technic and Practical Histochemistry (3rd ed., 1965),
but it wasn't formatted for practical use as a manual.

I have several more books of that vintage, none entirely satisfactory.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Maryville TN