JOSEPH LISTER - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 06/03/1903 - HFSID 41675
Price: $2,400.00
JOSEPH LISTER. Scarce ALS: "Lister", 2p, 4½x7, front
and verso. 32 Brook Street, Bath, 1903 June 3. On black-bordered
imprinted stationery to Mr. Fry. In full: "I have received your most
kind letter at this place where I am at present staying: and also the official
intimation of the honour which the Merchant Taylors' Company have
offered me. I have written to the Clerk begging him to express to the Master
and Wardens my deep sense of that honour and also informing him that I look to
returning to London in a fortnight, when I shall be prepared to confer, as
proposed, with the Master and Wardens as to the most suitable time for the
ceremony. I am sorry you had the trouble of calling during my absence."
The Merchant Taylors' Company is one of "Twelve Great Livery Companies"
(Guilds) located in the city of London. Founded in the 13th century as a
religious and social fraternity, the Guild today is a philanthropic and social
organization. British surgeon and medical researcher Joseph Lister (1827-1912),
is considered to be the father of antiseptics and modern surgery. In
1865, Lister, who had made a study of inflammation and suppuration following
injuries and wounds, began using carbolic acid sprays to kill airborne
germs. He realized that germs were present everywhere, making it
necessary for doctors and nurses to wash their hands and to disinfect
instruments and dressings used in the operating room. This procedure saved
nearly 50% of his patients who would have died from infection without the
antiseptic conditions. In 1877, Lister demonstrated conclusively that his
method of antisepsis reduced danger to life from surgery. That year, he
began serving as the Chair of Clinical Surgery at Kings College, a post
that he held until his retirement from surgical practice in 1893, ten years
before this letter was written. The honor mentioned in this letter was not
the first awarded to Lister in recognition of his work: he had been created
a Baronet in 1883 and Queen Victoria named him Baron Lister of Lyme
Regis in 1897 as a result of his contributions to the medical profession.
Slightly soiled. Irregular left edge. Mounting remnants at upper blank margin of
verso (no show through). Fine condition.
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