Caird, Chiene, SURGERY Lecture Notes, edinburgh, 1894

Hand-Written Notes from a Course on Surgery given by Dr John Chiene at the University of Edinburgh, 1894

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 DETAILS: Entries dated 1894-5. Original half leather binding with black cloth boards and gilt lettering to spine. Approx. 350 text pages (written on one side of each leaf), with occasional notes on facing page. Size: 8vo - 5.5in (14cm) by 9in (22.8cm) (standard sized book).

CONDITION: Very Good (see table below for details). Rubbing and some edgewear to boards and spine, slightly heavier wear to top and bottom of spine. Some sunning to endpapers and pages. Bookplate to front pastedown reads: 'Ex Libris J. Colin Dagnall' (see below for details). Pen annotation and blind-stamp to front endpaper. Light foxing to edges, minimal to a few pages right at the edge. Binding solid. *Photo(s) given of actual book.

CONTENTS: A unique and fascinating item, this book contains the handwritten notes of a medical student from 1894 to 1895, given at the University of Edinburgh. The notes are centered around a series of lectures, delivered by Dr. John Chiene, and Dr. Francis Caird.

Chiene (1843-1923) taught at the University of Edinburgh from 1882 to 1909, and was a firm adherent of Lister's antiseptic principles. He inaugurated the first teaching bacteriological laboratory in the United Kingdom, and was a pioneer of the Edinburgh ambulance service. Despite his renown in his field, he published very few works.

One of the foremost surgeons in Edinburgh, Caird (1853-1926) was similarly a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, assuming the Regius Chair of Clinical Surgery from 1909-1919.

The notebook provides detailed notes on many medical conditions lectured on by both teachers. This particular copy was owned by J. Colin Dagnall, a noted chiropodist and book collector, and he has highlighted some of the articles in a note at the front of the work - foot fractures and dislocations, lateral ankle sprain, rupture of the achilles tendon, a full account of a case of clubfoot, flatfoot, and hammer-toe.

The notebook is also interesting for its insight into both the medicine of the day, and the teaching. 'Cocaine is no good', one marginal note states, as well as musings on the medical content of the lectures such as 'You don't expect a cure if not better after six months.'

One particularly dramatic aspect of the notebook is the relation of practical experiences the students underwent - one case described by the writer involves 'The Old Question: proper treat. is at time of injury?', and he goes on to describe 'Stab in neck - threatened to burst + the man who had stabbed him was in prison + if accused of death he would have been hung.' A small note below simply states, 'I saved his life as well as the other man.' 

The main lecture notes are written on one side of each leaf, with additional shorter notes on some of the facing pages. There are a few hand-drawn diagrams, and one folding handout pasted to one leaf, otherwise the volume is entirely text. A unique work, likely to be of great interest to medical collectors.

[This book comes from the private collection of chiropodial and podiatric literature amassed by eminent chiropodist J. Colin Dagnall. His collection was one of the largest of its kind in the world. 

Colin Dagnall trained at the London Foot Hospital in the late 1940's, and spent almost 50 years in private practice. Editor of the British Journal of Chiropody for many years, he was also an active member of many of his profession's governing bodies.

Many of the books contain the doctor's bookplates and private library cards, inscriptions from and to other prominent figures in the profession, and loose ms. notes. Where appropriate, we have noted these in the description, and left all such ephemera in situ as it came to us.

Please browse our other auctions for more books from this collection.]