2021-05 Raynors HCA Live
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/22/2021
A great mid-nineteen century (ca. 1850) Louisville, Kentucky medical student's letter on the early use of ether during trauma operations, that city's churches including going to the Catholic Cathedral "without understanding the words" and of his low-opinion of theater going after experiencing his first play. As a student he witnessed the early use of ether in trauma surgery as a student of the nineteen century's most famous academic medical instructor, Professor SAMUEL D. GROSS (1805-1884) whose use of the "Magic Letheon" led to an explosion of his popularity among his students including an outpouring of admiration by our man Mortimer while studying at the Louisville Medical Institute [University of Louisville]. Letheon was developed by Boston dentist William T. G. Morton in 1846 and Mortimer was there to see its early use in medical instruction. The letter is written by a certain "Mortimer", 4pp. 8vo., "Friday night, Nov. 5, [ca. 1850], Louisville," to his sister and also includes a great description of life in Louisville, (that Dr. Gross helped save from anti-Know Nothing rioters in 1854) The letter, reads, in part: "I arrived safely on Wednesday morningàJas. Patrick took me to the College [Louisville Medical Institute, aka University of Louisville] and they made arrangements for me to room with themàI am certainly much obliged to them. We are boarding in a respectable and an excellent houseàby myself I should have been pretty green in finding boardingàyou should not think [it] strange if I should express my admiration of Dr. Gross. [Samuel D. Gross 1805-1884, renowned American academic trauma surgeon.] I have seen him perform two or three operations his patients being under the influence of the Magic Letheon which appears to me to be very skillful. Some of the operations certainly must have been exceedingly painful if the patient had not been under the influence of Letheon. It is a branch of study of which all the students seem to press and Dr. Gross consequently the most popular of all the professors and, of course, I am like the othersàI went to St. Paul's Church, one of the finest and richest churches in the city and heard a fine sermon by a very eccentric clergyman. The music was very fine. The Gloria Excelsis like yoursàthe other chants were new, but very fine. I stopped at the Catholic Church and heard some fine m[i]sic without understanding the words, of course. And the first time in my life I went [to] the Theatre last night and saw the great Star Ville Blangy perform[ed]àpronounced to be fineàI didn't become so enchanted as to permit it to divert my mind from studyàI shall seek some other and less objectionable source to while away an idle houràit behooves me to assiduously improve every houràat night I have found myself much fatigued which for my sleep I found of great advantageàMortimerà". A great medical related letter mentioning both the early use of anesthesia and of the respect the medical community had for Dr. SAMUEL D. GROSS whose life work has been memorized in painting and statue. Very minor loss at the folds, else VG.
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