IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0114 MS0216
Held at: Royal College of Surgeons of England
Title: Abernethy, John: Autograph Letters from to the Royal College of Surgeons
Date(s): 1817-1830
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 2 letters
Name of creator(s): Abernethy | John | 1764-1831 | surgeon
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
John Abernethy was born in Coleman Street, London, in 1764. He was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar school, and at the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to Charles Blicke, surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. Abernethy remained at Bart's for the rest of his career, being appointed assistant surgeon in 1787, and promted to full surgeon in 1815. During the 1790s Abernethy published several papers on a variety of anatomical topics. On the strength of these contributions he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1796. Between 1814 and 1817 he served as Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons. Abernethy also offered private lectures in anatomy in a house in Bartholomew Close, near to the hospital. The governors of Bart's then built a lecture theatre within the hospital to accommodate his classes. In 1824 Thomas Wakley, editor of the newly established journal The Lancet, published Abernethy's lectures without his permission. Abernethy sought an injunction but was unsuccessful, and remained resentful about the incident. Abernethy had himself attended the lectures of John Hunter, with whom he was also personally acquainted, and after Hunter's death he professed himself to be the spokesman for Hunter's physiological and pathological views. He died in 1831.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of John Abernethy, 1817-1830, comprising an autograph letter from Abernethy of Bedford Row, to the Master, Governors, and Court of Assistants of the Royal College of Surgeons, 23 Jul 1817, thanking the College for his election; and an autograph letter from Abernethy of Enfield, to the President and Members of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, 1 Jul 1830, resigning his seat on the Council and on the Board of Curators.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
As outlined in Scope and Content.
Conditions governing access:
By written appointment only.
Conditions governing reproduction:
No photocopying permitted.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Additional manuscripts catalogue.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Donated by John Law Adam (FRCS), in 1958.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Abernethy (MS0210); Notes of lectures by Abernethy by Peter Mere Latham (MS0211); William Cooke's notes of lectures by Abernethy and others (MS0212); Notes of Abernethy's lectures by Jacob Vale Asbury (MS0213); Autograph Letter from John Abernethy to Mr Mortimer (MS0214); Autograph Letter from John Abernethy to Mr Reece (MS0215); Admittance card for Anthony Holbrow to the lectures of John Abernethy (MS0217); Notes on Surgical Lectures of Sir Everard Home and John Abernethy (MS0218); W Downes notes of John Abernethy's lectures on surgery (MS0053); Prosser-Harvey Collection containing notes of Abernethy's lectures (MS0081).
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Compiled by Anya Turner.
Date(s) of descriptions: Sep 2008