Edward Jenner papers, 1800-1822 and undated 1.4 Linear Feet (1 box and 2 volumes; 70 items)
- Abstract Or Scope
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The collection features 63 letters, dated 1800-1822 and undated. Topics include progress of various vaccination programs, at home and abroad, as well as his recognition in Parliament and the Royal Jennerian Society; impact of illness in local families; preparations for war, which he opposes; an inscription for his brother's tombstone; gifts and food sent to family and friends; illness among his family members; comments on various printing jobs; settling of accounts, lending money, and dealing with unfavorable tenants and farm managers; fossil collecting; requests for positions on behalf of others and for the return a prisoner of war who is a relation; medical cases and consultations; and his appointment as physician extraordinary to George IV. Included are letters to Dr. [Thomas] Pruen; Charles Henry Parry; James Smith (1771-1841); Dr. S.B. LaBatt; and to Nigel Kingscote. Many items are copies of family letters, they were probably made during the life of Jenner's nephew, William Davies, and contain annotations by him. In addition to the letters, there are a few miscellaneous papers, including poems, a prescription and a recipe, and a receipt for the Royal Jennerian Society. There are four holograph prescriptions and two recipes (1807-1821), four with initials "E.J.," mounted and bound in a volume with an engraved portrait of Jenner. Collection also includes a manuscript diary (188 pages) maintained by Jenner in 1811 and the Fall of 1812, primarily containing notes on his patients and their treatments for various illnesses, from syphilis to gout to heart ailments (including prescriptions) along with records of many vaccinations. There is a note of receipt of a letter (1812 Sept 12) from Dr. Alex Crichton stating that vaccination flourished throughout the Russian Empire. Also contains reports on the dissection of organs from a cow, horse, and sheep, along with two sets of notations regarding diabetes, and one on "pulmonary affections." There are occasional notes with weather observations, recipes, lists of letters written, patient charges or payments, and a few comments on his house repairs using stucco. At the end of the volume are a number of poems and epigrams.
- Collection Context