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Patrick's Rare Books

Autobiography of Samuel Gross, Presentation copy from William Osler, 1887

Autobiography of Samuel Gross, Presentation copy from William Osler, 1887

Autobiography of Samuel D. Gross, M. D., D. C. L. Oxon., LL. D. Cantab., Edin., Jeff. Coll., Univ. PA., Emeritus Professor of Surgery in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. With Sketches of His Contemporaries. Edited by His Sons. In Two Volumes. Philadelphia: George Barrie, Publisher 1887. Each volume inscribed and dated in black ink as presented by William Osler on the original ffep. “Presented by Dr. Wm. Osler Philadelphia 1 Oct 1887” in volume 1. Volume 2 reads the same but lacks the numeral 1 before October. Professionally rebound in quarter leather bindings using 19th century marbled paper over boards. Gold text and embellishments, as well as five raised bands on spines. New end papers. Gilt top edges and uncut bottom and fore-edges. Damp stain of upper outer corner slightly affecting half title, frontis, blank, and full title of each volume, but thereafter text block is clean, bright, unmarked, and tight, with ample margins. Samuel Gross (1805 – 1884) was the most famous surgeon in the USA in his day. He published a celebrated work titled A System of Surgery (1859, G-M 5607) which went through many editions. It remains a classic. He published the second book on pathological anatomy (1839, G-M 2292) to be published in America, and was the first exhaustive treatment of the subject in the English language. He was Professor of General Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathological Anatomy at Cincinnati Medical College. He also published the first systematic study of foreign bodies in air passages (G-M 3264), the first American treatise on orthopedics (G-M 4316.1, which he comments on in his autobiography offered here for sale), and an important work on autopsy findings in strangulation, and provided guidelines for medical examiners investigating strangulation cases (G-M 1737). Gross was also a robust medical historian. His autobiography is a treasury of 19th century American medicine and surgery. Sir William Osler (1849 – 1919) gave one of the best early descriptions of platelets (G-M 875), wrote a tremendously popular textbook titled The Principles and Practice of Medicine in 1892 (the best of its time, G-M 2231) and was regarded as one of the greatest physicians of the 19th century (perhaps ever). He was a Canadian physician, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford (1904), and was one of the “big four” who founded Johns Hopkins Hospital. He created the first residency program for physicians. His name is also immortalized in many medical eponyms. Each volume measures approximately 9 ¼ x 6 x ½ x 1 ½ inches.

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