JOSEPH LISTER - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 06/12/1898 - HFSID 112437

JOSEPH LISTER
The English surgeon and scientist writes to a prominent English politician, expressing regrets that he had to slip away without saying good-bye.
ALS: "Lister", 1¼p, 4½x7, conjoined leaves. Portland Place, 1898 June 12. On black-bordered stationery to Sir John Kennaway. In full: "I was sorry to be obliged by an urgent engagement to slip away on Thursday evening without saying goodbye. It is extremely kind of you to suggest my going to see you some time from Lyme Regis. My visits there are, however, of very brief duration at Christmas & in the Spring while my brother is there with his family. Believe me faithfully yours." SIR JOHN KENNAWAY was a Member of Parliament. From 1908-1910, Kennaway was Father of the House. The longest continuously serving member of the House of Commons, he had entered the House of Commons in 1870. 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, five years before this letter was written. Lister 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. Lightly creased with folds, not at signature. Slightly soiled at lower right corner of first page and on verso of integral leaf. Fine condition.