MEDICINE

[Lord Lister [Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister], distinguished medical pioneer.] Autograph Note Signed to ‘Reynolds’, accepting an invitation.

Author: 
Lord Lister [Joseph Lister (1827-1912), 1st Baron Lister], distinguished British doctor, medical scientist, pioneer of antiseptic surgery, President of the Royal Society
Lister
Publication details: 
30 June 1883. On letterhead of 12 Park Crescent, Portland Place [London].
£150.00
Lister

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount on reverse. Folded once for postage. Good bold signature. Reads ‘My dear Reynolds, / I accept with much pleasure your kind invitation for Friday, July 6th., at 8 o’clock. / Yours very truly, / Joseph Lister’. On reverse, in a contemporary hand: ‘Distinguished surgeon from Edinburgh [sic]’. See Image.

[Samuel Cooper, surgeon and medical author.] Autograph Letter in the third person to 'the Board of Curators', asking for a library ticket for Michael Foster of Holywell.

Author: 
Samuel Cooper (1780-1848), surgeon and medical author whose ?Surgical Dictionary? was a standard textbook [Michael Foster (1810-1880), surgeon]
Publication details: 
?June 14 1833. / 7, Woburn Place? [London].
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: ?Mr S Cooper?s compts to the Board of Curators and will be obliged if they will favour him with a ticket for the Library for his friend Mr M. Foster for 6 months / For Mr Michael Foster / of Holywell Bedfordshire / June 14 1833. / 7, Woburn Place?. A pencil note in a contemporary hand at the head of the page gives a list of works by ?Prof. Samuel Cooper F.R.S.?

[John Tricker Conquest, physician-accoucheur (man-midwife) and author of the standard textbook ?Outlines of Midwifery?.] Autograph Note in the third person to ?Mr. Bullock? regarding the procurement of his ?Letters to a Mother?.

Author: 
John Tricker Conquest (1789-1866), physician-accoucheur (man-midwife) whose ?Outlines of Midwifery? (1820) was a standard textbook in the first half of the nineteenth century
Publication details: 
?Finsbury Square [London] / Monday?. (In pencil in another hand ?Septr 1848?, and on paper with 1847 watermark.)
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium of grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. The subject is Conquest?s ?Letters to a Mother on the Management of Herself and her Children in Health and Disease?, published in 1848, which had reached a fourth edition by 1852. ?Dr. Conquest presents his compliments to Mr. Bullock & begs to say that the ?Letters? may be obtained at the publisher Longman & Co. Paternoster Row, & of Gladding Booksellers opposite Bunhill Fields City Road, & through any other bookseller.?

[Astley Cooper [Sir Astley Paston Cooper], distinguished surgeon and anatomist.] Autograph Note Signed, requesting that the botanist and antiquary Dawson Turner vote for his nephew's membership of the Athenaeum club.

Author: 
Astley Cooper [Sir Astley Paston Cooper] (1768-1841), distinguished surgeon and anatomist [Dawson Turner (1775-1858), botanist and antiquary]
Astley Cooper
Publication details: 
‘Conduit St [London] / June 23rd / 1830.’
£80.00
Astley Cooper

The two men were both from Norfolk: see their entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo, on the recto of the first leaf a bifolium, the verso of the second leaf being addressed by Cooper to ‘Dawson Turner Esq / Yarmouth / Norfolk’, with postmark and ‘More to Pay 1d’ and ‘Post Paid’, and small seal with impression in red wax. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage, and minor traces of stub adhering to one edge. Reads: ‘Dear Sir, / You will greatly oblige me y voting for my Nephew Mr. Astley Cooper for the Athenaeum - / Yours very truly / Astley Cooper’. See Image.

[Astley Cooper [Sir Astley Paston Cooper], distinguished anatomist.] Correspondence with fellow-surgeon Nicholas Birch, comprising two Autograph Letters Signed and six Autograph Notes Signed.

Author: 
Astley Cooper [Sir Astley Paston Cooper] (1768-1841), distinguished surgeon and anatomist
Publication details: 
One dated 23 March 1827, two with 1824 postmarks; the rest undated.
£220.00

Giving an insight into the nuts and bolts of Georgian medical practice. See Cooper's entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient was the son-in-law of the apothecary William Complin (1729-1808), and lived in Mansell Street from the latter’s death until his own, and was possibly succeeded at the address by his son George, also a surgeon. The material is in good condition, lightly worn, on aged paper. All items 1p, 12mo, and four on bifoliums addressed on second leaf. All six signed ‘Astley Cooper’. ONE: ALS. ‘Tuesday’.

[John Marshall, President of the Royal College of Surgeons and Professor of Anatomy at the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed to Bernard Piffard, regarding evolution, respiratory problems, an award in Dublin and Mrs Pickard’s health.

Author: 
John Marshall (1818-1891), President of the College of Surgeons and Professor of Anatomy at the Royal Academy [Bernard Piffard (1833-1916), microscopist and entomologist]
Publication details: 
28 April 1886; on letterhead of 10 Savile Row, W. [London].
£65.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. Marshall’s handwriting is hurried and in places difficult to decipher. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Piffard’ and signed ‘John Marshall’. Piffard’s gift of ‘the Box of flowers, with [?]’ leads him to opine: ‘The Daffodils are lovely. - Why is Nature so beautiful? Can it be merely to please the Eye of Man?

[Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician and suffragist.] Autograph Initials (‘E. G. A.’) and address to envelope addressed by her to ‘Mrs. J. J. Stevenson / The Red House / 3 Bayswater Hill / W’.

Author: 
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917), English physician and suffragist, co-founder of the first hospital staffed by women and first female mayor in Britain
Garrett Anderson
Publication details: 
Purple one penny stamp affixed, with postmark dated from London, 2 May 1883.
£45.00
Garrett Anderson

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient of the letter that this envelope contained was born Jane Omond (1839-1932). She was the wife of the architect John James Stevenson (1831-1908), whose first wife was Elisa Anderson, the cousin of Skelton Anderson, husband of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. A 13.5 x 7.5 cm envelope, with the flap torn open at the back. Otherwise in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Addressed by Anderson to ‘Mrs. J. J. Stevenson / The Red House / 3 Bayswater Hill / W’, and with her initials ‘E. G. A.’ at bottom right.Mrs. Garret [sic] Anderson’.

[Francis Newbery & Sons, London medicine proprietors.] Manuscript Letter to the Dean of Carlisle [Francis Close), providing a translation of a letter on the best way of taking a medicine.

Author: 
Francis Newbery & Sons, the medical arm of the London publishers founded at St Paul’s Churchyard by John Newbery [Francis Close (1797-1882), Dean of Carlisle]
Publication details: 
1 February 1876. On letterhead of ‘37, Newgate Street, / (Established 125 Years in St. Paul’s Church Yard,) / London’.
£220.00

The history of the business is convoluted. See the entries in the Oxford DNB of the founder of the firm John Newbery (c.1713-1767) of St Paul’s Churchyard, his son Francis Newbery (1743-1818), and Elizabeth Newbery, née Bryant (c.1746-1821, widow of Francis Newbery (c.1740-1780), cousin of the aforementioned Francis, who, according to Oxford DNB, ‘had studied chemistry and medicine but on the death of his father in 1767 he was urged by Samuel Johnson and Robert James to continue the business of publishing and selling patent medicines which he had inherited as the only surviving son. ...

[Norman Kerr, Scottish physician and social reformer.] Autograph Card Signed, thanking the headmaster and philanthropist Dawson William Turner for an ‘interesting & useful pamphlet’.

Author: 
Norman Kerr [Norman Shanks Kerr] (1834-1899), Scottish physician, social reformer and leading light of the British temperance movement [Dawson William Turner (1815-1885), teacher and philanthropist]
Publication details: 
9 January 1885. 42 Grove Street, Regent’s Park, NW [London].
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is not to be confused with his father the botanist Dawson Turner (1775-1858), whose entry contains the following regarding the son: ‘During his final decade he lived in central London, and his untidy figure became familiar to the needy in hospitals and on the streets, whom he assisted with dedicated benevolence. He died in Charing Cross Hospital, London, on 29 January 1885, and was buried at Brompton cemetery.’ The present item was hence written within weeks of the recpient’s death. Post Card printed with red halfpenny stamp.

[‘A Classic Bush Doctor’: Felix Paul Bartlett, Australian surgeon at Cowra, New South Wales.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to ‘Mr D’Eath’, one giving news of his surgery and mutual friends, the other describing ‘poor Walkers sudden death’.

Author: 
Felix Paul Bartlett (1855-1944), Australian ‘Bush Doctor’ at Cowra, New South Wales
Publication details: 
23 March and 11 May 1890. Both from Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
£180.00

Interesting items, casting light on the life of an Australian rural doctor of the Victorian period. A selection of Bartlett’s memoirs was published under the title ‘Bush Doctor’, edited by Jane Caiger-Smith and Michael C Bartlett, in 2011. There is an good illustrated article on him and his family (‘A Classic Bush Doctor’) in ‘Australian Rural Doctor’, June 2013. Both letters are addressed to ‘Dear Mr. D’Eath’ and signed ‘Felix P. Bartlett’.

[Dannie Abse, Welsh poet.] Autograph Letter Signed thanking Derek Stanford for a review.

Author: 
Dannie Abse [Daniel Abse] (1923-2014), Welsh poet of Jewish extraction, brother of politician Leo Abse and psychologist Wilfrid Abse [Derek Stanford (1918-2008), critic and poet]
Publication details: 
‘85, Hodford Road, / London N.W.11 / Oct 74’.
£50.00

See his entry, and that of his brother Leo, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, landscape 12mo. The top half of a small 4to leaf of grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged. The recipient’s name is not well written, but he is the critic Derek Stanford (1918-2008), who also has an entry in the Oxford DNB. Reads: ‘Dear Derek, / Thanks for send me a copy of your review. And thanks too for writing it! It is as generous as I would expect you to be. I do hope we may meet up somewhere soon. Our brief meetings over the years are punctuated - as far as I’m concerned - by intervals much too long.

[Sir James Paget, founder of scientific medical pathology.] Autograph Letter Signed to Charles Klugh on receiving his baronetcy, with printed card on his wife’s death, and newspaper cutting from The Times on his funeral.

Author: 
Sir James Paget (1814-1899), 1st Baronet, prominent English surgeon, considered with Virchow as one of the founders of scientific medical pathology [Charles Klugh]
Publication details: 
Letter: 27 September 1871; on letterhead of 1 Harewood Place, Hanover Square, W. Card: April 1895; 5 Park Square West. Newspaper cutting from The Times, 5 January 1900.
£180.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items are laid down on a leaf from an album, the letter on one side and the other two items on the other. The material is in good condition, lightly aged, with the letter slightly ruckled. LETTER: 1p, 12mo. Letterhead printed in red. Beneath the letter, on the album leaf, in a contemporary hand: ‘In reply to my congratulatory note upon his being made a baronet.’ Addressed to ‘Charles Klugh Esqr’ and signed ‘James Paget’. Reads: ‘My dear Mr. Klugh / By mistake, your note was not sent to me at Lucerne, and I have only lately received it.

[Anatomical plates by Carlo Cesio, published by Luis Fabri.] ‘Cognizione de Muscoli del Corpo Umano / Per uso di disegno / Opera / di Carlo Cesio’.

Author: 
Carlo Cesio [Carlo Cesi] (1622-1682), Baroque painter and engraver of the Roman school; Luigi Fabri [Aloisio Fabri; Luis Fabri] (1777-1835), Roman engraver and publisher
Publication details: 
[Early nineteenth century.] ‘In Roma presso Luigi Fabri, Via del Bufalo No. 141.’
£350.00

First published in Rome in 1679 as ‘Cognitione [sic] de muscoli del corpo humano per il disegno’. The present edition is scarce. JISC LHD suggests that there is no copy in the United Kingdom (not even at the Wellcome), and WorldCat lists only four: at Harvard, Boston Athenaeum, Michigan and Padua University. 18pp, folio, on the rectos of eighteen leaves, of which the first is a new title-page and the second carries the text ‘A chi studio il disegno’ by ‘Carlo Cesio’. Dimensions of plate 21 x 34 cm; dimensions of leaf 33 x 44 cm.

[Nicholas Culpeper, herbalist, botanist, physician and astrologer.] Printed list of ‘Ten several Books by Nich. Culpeper Gent. Student in Physick, and Astrology.’

Author: 
Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654), English herbalist, botanist, physician and astrologer
Publication details: 
Extracted from ‘Medicaments for the Poor; Or, Physick for the Common People’ (London: Printed by John Streater, for George Sawbridge, 1670).
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo, with verso paginated 135 and ending ‘FINIS.’ The items are described over forty-five lines. The text is complete and clear, but the laid paper is in a delicate condition, discoloured and with chipping to extremities. The longest title is the first, at ten lines: ‘I. The Practice of Physick, containing seventeen several Books: wherein is plainly set forth, the Nature, Cause, Differences, and several sorts of Signs; together with the Cure of all Diseases in the Body of Man.

[Frederic Carpenter Skey, President of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society.] Offprint of the obituary of ‘Frederic Carpenter Skey, C.B., F.R.S.’

Author: 
Frederic Carpenter Skey (1798-1872), distinguished English surgeon, President of Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society; Hunterian Orator, Royal College of Surgeons [St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London]
Publication details: 
[1873.] ‘Reprinted from St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Reports, Vol. IX.’ London: Printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-street Square and Parliament Street.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 12mo, 8vo, paginated 1-19 (originally pp.xxi-xxxix). Stitched into light-grey printed wraps. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. This offprint is scarce: the only copy on WorldCat and JISC is at the Wellcome.

[Lauriston E. Shaw, Dean of the Guy’s Hospital Medical School, London.] Letter of recommendation for ‘Mr A. K. Matthews M.R.C.S LRCP’.

Author: 
Lauriston E. Shaw [Lauriston Elgie Shaw] (1859-1923), physician, Dean of the Guy’s Hospital Medical School, London.
Publication details: 
1 January 1895; on letterhead of the Medical School, Guy’s Hospital, London, S.E.
£45.00

3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘Lauriston . E . Shaw / Dean of the Medical School & Asst Physician to Guy’s Hospital’. Begins: ‘Mr A. K. Matthews M.R.C.S LRCP has been known to me as a student at Guy’s Hospital during the last five years.

[Pamphlet.] Spiritualism and Insanity: An Essay describing the disastrous consequences to the Mental Health which are apt to result from a pursuit of the study of Spiritualism. By Dr. C. Williams, Author of Insanity: its Causes and Prevention, etc.

Author: 
Charles Williams (b.1858), LRCP, Assistant Medical Officer, the Warneford, Oxford [spiritualism]
Publication details: 
London: The Ambrose Co., Ltd., 55 & 57 Wigmore Street, W. [1909 or 1910]
£56.00

12mo, 53 + [iii] pp. Text clear and complete. Aged and worn, with loose original front cover, printed in green, remaining from the binding. Stamp of 'The Community of the Resurrection' on title-page. A few manuscript notes in light pencil. Scarce: five copies on COPAC, at the British Library, Oxford, Cambridge, the National Library of Scotland, and University of London, variously dated to 1909 and 1910.

[Thomas Hastie Bryce, Regius Professor of Anatomy at the University of Glasgow.] Autograph Letter Signed to Professor David Waterston of St Andrews, describing his declining health and other personal matters.

Author: 
Thomas Hastie Bryce (1862-1946), Regius Professor of Anatomy at the University of Glasgow and Curator of the Hunterian Museum [Professor David Waterston (1871-1942)]
Publication details: 
3 April 1941. On letterhead of The Loaning, Peebles [Scotland].
£56.00

Considering his achievements and range of activities it is curious that Bryce should not have been accorded an entry in the Oxford DNB. Waterston was Bute Professor of Anatomy at the University of St Andrews from 1914 to 1942. In 1913, while Professor of Anatomy at King's College, London, he was the first authority to debunk the Piltdown Man hoax. 2pp, 4to. 49 lines of closely-written text. Addressed to ‘My dear Waterston’ and signed ‘James H. Bryce’. In fair condition, somewhat creased and aged.

[The man who discovered Vitamin D: Sir Edward Mellanby.] Typed Letter Signed to Professor David Waterston of St Andrews, regarding ‘Dr. Simpson’ and her work at the Mackenzie Institute.

Author: 
Sir Edward Mellanby (1884-1955), British biochemist who in 1919 discovered vitamin D and its role in preventing rickets [David Waterston (1871-1942), Bute Professor of Anatomy, St Andrews]
Publication details: 
18 October 1939. On letterhead of the Medical Research Council, with ‘TEMPORARY ADDRESS’ at the London School of Hygiene stamped over 38 Old Queen Street, Westminster, SW1 [London].
£50.00

See Mellanby’s entry in the Oxford DNB. David Waterston (1871-1942) was Bute Professor of Anatomy at the University of St Andrews from 1914 to 1942. In 1913, while Professor of Anatomy at King's College, London, he was the first authority to debunk the Piltdown Man hoax. 1p, 4to. Signed ‘E. Mellanby’. In fair condition, lightly aged an slightly ruckled. He will be happy to see Dr Simpson on her visit to London, and has ‘raised the matter of the Mackenzie Institute with Professor Greenwood again and arranged to send a statistician, Dr. Teleky, to St.

[Sir Humphry Davy Rolleston, English physician and medical author.] Autograph Note Signed, thanking ‘Waterston’ [Professor David Waterston of St Andrews] for ‘the reprint of the article on Mackenzie’s heart’.

Author: 
Sir Humphry Davy Rolleston (1862-1944), prominent English physician and medical author [Professor David Waterston (1871-1942) of St Andrews, anatomist; Piltdown Man hoax]
Publication details: 
16 September 1939. On letterhead of Martins, Haslemere, Surrey.
£50.00

See Rolleston's entry in the Oxford DNB. He was successively president of the London Medical Society, the Royal Society of Medicine, the Royal College of Physicians and the Eugenics Society, and was also Physician-in-Ordinary to King George V. Waterston was Bute Professor of Anatomy at the University of St Andrews from 1914 to 1942. In 1913, while Professor of Anatomy at King's College, London, he was the first authority to debunk the Piltdown Man hoax. 1p, 16mo. Lightly ruckled, and with the ink of the letter having run a little through removal from mount; otherwise in good condition.

[Sholto Mackenzie, 2nd Baron Amulree, physician and geriatrician.] Autograph Letter Signed to Professor Waterston of St Andrews, thanking him for an article on the heart of his uncle Sir James Mackenzie.

Author: 
Sholto Mackenzie [Basil William Sholto Mackenzie, 2nd Baron Amulree (1900-1983)], physician and advocate of geriatric medicine, nephew of Sir James Mackenzie [Professor David Waterston of St Andrews]
Publication details: 
22 September 1939. On letterhead of 42 Queen Anne’s Gate, S.W.1 [London]
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. David Waterston (1871-1942) was Bute Professor of Anatomy at the University of St Andrews from 1914 to 1942. In 1913, while Professor of Anatomy at King's College, London, he was the first authority to debunk the Piltdown Man hoax. 2pp, 12mo. Sixteen lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight ruckling and bleeding due to removal from mount. Signed ‘Sholto Mackenzie’ and addressed to ‘Dear Professor Waterston’.

[John William Struthers, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.] Autograph Letter Signed and two Typed Letters Signed to Professor David Waterston of St Andrews, discussing golf and other matters in a lightly-humorous style.

Author: 
John William Struthers (1874-1953), Scottish surgeon, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh [Professor David Waterston (1871-1942) of St Andrews]
Publication details: 
The two TLsS, 20 March and 5 April 1941. The ALS, 10 August 1941. All on letterhead of Sandy-Knowe, Gullane [Scotland],
£150.00

Struthers served as a major in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Great War. He was a pioneer in the use of local anaesthetic, and wrote a well-regarded work on the topic. He was President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh from 1941 to 1943. Waterston was Bute Professor of Anatomy at the University of St Andrews from 1914 to 1942. In 1913, while Professor of Anatomy at King's College, London, he was the first authority to debunk the Piltdown Man hoax. The three items are in fair condition, lightly aged, with slight ruckling and aging. All three are folded for postage.

[J. C. B. Grant [John Charles Boileau Grant], Scottish-Canadian anatomist, ('Grant's Dissector’).] Two Autograph Letters Signed to Professor David Waterston of St Andrews, with news of colleagues and reminiscences of University of Edinburgh.

Author: 
J. C. B. Grant [John Charles Boileau Grant] (1886-1973) Scottish-Canadian anatomist, author of 'Grant's Dissector' [Professor David Waterston (1871-1942) of St Andrews; Piltdown Man hoax]
Publication details: 
20 June 1933. and 17 November 1940. Both on letterhead of the University of Toronto Department of Medicine.
£150.00

Grant, who was Chair of Anatomy at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine from 1930 to 1956, is best known for his textbook ‘Grant’s Dissector’, now in its sixteenth edition and used all over the world by medical students. Waterston was Bute Professor of Anatomy at the University of St Andrews from 1914 to 1942. In 1913, while Professor of Anatomy at King's College, London, he was the first authority to debunk the Piltdown Man hoax. Both letters are in good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Both signed ‘J C B Grant’. ONE (20 June 1939): 3pp, 4to.

[Dr John H. Mulligan of St Andrew’s University.] Three long Autograph Letters Signed to his colleague Professor Waterston, while serving as Lieutenant with a Field Ambulance.

Author: 
Dr John H. Mulligan, senior lecturer of Neuro-Anatomy and Histology in the Anatomy Department at St Andrew’s University [David Waterston (1871-1942), Bute Professor of Anatomy, St Andrews]
Publication details: 
8 September 1939; and 9 February and 28 April 1940. All from 152 (HD) Field Ambulance, R.A.M.C. (T.A.), B.E.F., the first also from Dundee, the second and third written from France.
£180.00

Mulligan’s collection of lantern slides is now part of the St Andrew’s collections, and information about him is to be gleaned from its web pages. David Waterston (1871-1942) was Bute Professor of Anatomy at the University of St Andrews from 1914 to 1942. In 1913, while Professor of Anatomy at King's College, London, he was the first authority to debunk the Piltdown Man hoax. A total of ten pages of closely and neatly written text. In fair condition, lightly ruckled, and with slight loss to the edge of one page, and the ink of one leaf having slightly run on removal from mount.

[Sir Robert Christison, distinguished Scottish phyisician and toxicologist.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Dr. Bowman’ [John Eddowes Bowman Jnr], correcting a statement regarding ‘the subject of the Nitrate of Iron as a remedy for chronic diarrhoea’.

Author: 
Sir Robert Christison (1797-1882), Scottish physician and toxicologist, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and British Medical Association [John Eddowes Bowman Jnr (1819-1856),
Publication details: 
11 April 1846; Edinburgh.
£80.00

Christison was the author of a standard Victorian textbook of toxicology and founder of a medical dynasty; see his 1885 autobiography and his entry in the Oxford DNB (the latter also contains an entry for Bowman). 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice, with small closed tear at edge of one fold. Looping stylized signature ‘R. Christison’. He begins by referring to ‘a previous communication received from the South of England on the subject of the Nitrate of Iron as a remedy for chronic diarrhoea’.

[Marshall Hall Higginbottom, Nottingham surgeon, nephew of eminent neurophysiologist Marshall Hall.] Autograph Letter Signed [to Rev. Samuel Walker], recommending the ear-surgeon Joseph Toynbee.

Author: 
Marshall Hall Higginbottom (1822-1895), Nottingham surgeon, nephew of Marshall Hall, eminent physician and neurophysiologist, vivisectionist and abolitionist [Rev. Samuel Walker; Joseph Toynbee]
Publication details: 
7 April 1856. Nottingham.
£45.00

A nice item, casting light on the practice of the provincial medical profession in Victorian England. See Higginbottom’s obituary in the British Medical Journal, 16 March 1895. There are a number of references to Higginbottom in the memoir of 1861 memoir of Marshall Hall (1790-1857) by his widow. For information about Hall, who died the following year, see his entry in the Oxford DNB, together with that of the otologist Joseph Toynbee (1815-1866). The item is from the papers of Rev. Samuel Walker, successively of Nottingham and Liverpool.

[Lord Albemarle, Whig politician.] Autograph Signature (‘Albemarle’) to a long secretarial letter to the surgeon William Barnard Boddy, describing in detail the state of his cataracts, and discussing possible treatment.

Author: 
Lord Albemarle [William Charles Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle] (1772-1849), Whig politician, Master of the Horse who travelled with Queen Victoria to coronation [William Barnard Boddy (1796-1884)]
Publication details: 
24 October 1845; Quidenham, near Kenninghall, Norfolk.
£120.00

An interesting item from a medical point of view, with a well-informed patient describing and discussing his condition, symptoms and treatment options. Three years after the writing of this letter the appropriately-named Boddy, who is addressed here as ‘W. Barnard Boddy Esqr / 3. Saville Row. Walworth’, published ‘Diet and Cholera’ (London, 1848). 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Fifty-five lines of closely-written text. The signature is large and shaky, and the use of an amanuensis is understandable in the light of the content of the letter.

[‘God save the Quin’: Frederic Quin, homeopathic physician and society figure.] Joking Autograph Letter, inviting ‘Jesse’ to a dinner at ‘Vun Undred and Vunety Vun Mount Street [...] No Dogs admitted’.

Author: 
Frederic Quin [Frederic Hervey Foster Quin] (1799-1878), the first homeopathic physician in England, figure of high society, friend of Dickens and Thackeray
Quin
Publication details: 
111 Mount Street [London]. ‘Friday evening’ [no date].
£80.00
Quin

The present item gives an indication of the high spirits, though hardly the ‘brilliant wit’, which, according to Quin’s entry in the Oxford DNB, afforded him a welcome to high society. 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium, with second leaf slightly damaged at foot by removal from mount. The body of the letter reads: ‘Dear Jesse / Don’t you or your fair friends forget Supper at Vun Undred and Vunety Vun Mount Street tomorrow Saturday night at 11 oclock or as soon after it as you can come. / N.B.

[Sir St Clair Thomson, surgeon and Professor of Laryngology at King’s College, London.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘St Clair Thomson’), declining to visit the Mansion House, but offering two guineas towards a subscription.

Author: 
Sir St Clair Thomson (1859-1943), surgeon and Professor of Laryngology at King’s College, London, and throat physician to King Edward VII
Publication details: 
25 January 1915; on letterhead of 64 Wimpole Street, W. [London] (‘TELEGRAMS “GLOTTIS, LONDON.”’)
£38.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The recipient’s name is uncertain (‘Knight Sladen’?) He is sorry that he is prevented from ‘coming to the Mansion House on Wedy’ by ‘the demands of practice’. The subject has his sympathy, ‘and, else, 2 Guineas if there is a subscription list & if small amounts be accepted’. He wonders whether his ticket might be used ‘by a patriotic sister & a friend!’ He asks him to simply send a post card ‘to say I may substitute their names for mine’.

[Sir Walter Mercer, Scottish orthopaedic surgeon.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Walter Mercer’), thanking ‘Dr Goodwin’ for ‘War Effort Canadian stamps’, praising the surgery of Goodwin’s colleagues, and finding things ‘pretty hectic’.

Author: 
Sir Walter Mercer (1890-1971), Scottish orthopaedic surgeon, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh who donated his collection of anatomical specimens to Surgeon's Hall in Edinburgh
Publication details: 
19 July 1945; on his letterhead (‘Consultations by Appointment’) of 'MR. WALTER MERCER', 12 Rothesay Terrace, Edinburgh 3.
£38.00

See Mercer’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 20 lines on both sides of a 12mo landscape letterhead. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Mercer has the proverbial handwriting of a doctor, rendering the present item somewhat difficult to read. He begins by thanking Goodwin for the ‘lovely surprise’ of ‘a packet of the War Effort Canadian stamps in mint condition’, which (illegible name) ‘didn’t get the length of Edinburgh as he has been called to the Pacific’.

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