[Charles Murchison, eminent physician, President of the Pathological Society of London.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'C. Murchison') to [William Frederick] Cleveland, regarding treatment of the final illness of the physician James Copland.

For Murchison and the subject of the letter, the eminent Scottish physician and medical author James Copland (1791-1870), see the Oxford DNB. Both items bifoliums; and both in good condition, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to the reverse of the second leaf. ONE: 3pp, 12mo. He begins by saying that he has seen Sir Henry Thompson (1820-1904), who 'cannot possibly meet us to-morrow but he will be at Dr Coplands at 3.40 on Thursday – That is the day of my Law Case but I will be there if I can'. In the meantime 'it might be well to suspend the injections of Bladder until you see Sir Henry – as he seems to be opposed to them and trust to the iron – the bladder of ice, and the frequent introduction into the rectum of small pieces of ice, with the edges rounded off in water & well greased'. TWO: 2pp, 12mo. Headed 'Sunday Evening | Dr. James Copland's case'. The letter begins: 'Dear Dr Cleveland | I fear that the poor Doctor is almost beyond our Art. I think he is sinking more from uraemia than fresh haemorrhage – and I have recommended a large [?] over the stomach'. He also thinks that Copland 'ought to have his bowels freely acted on either by a strong Cathartic enema, or if this fails, by one or two drops of Croton Oil by mouth. This I have left for you to decide.' Copland died two days after the writing of this letter. From the distinguished autograph collection of the psychiatrist Richard Alfred Hunter (1923-1981), whose collection of 7000 works relating to psychiatry is now in Cambridge University Library. Hunter and his mother Ida Macalpine had a particular interest in the illness of King George III, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'.