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·OSLER·L BRARY·NEWSL TTER· Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal (Québec) Canada

NUMBER 111 · 2009

THE

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IN THIS ISSUE THESES IN THE OSLER LIBRARY

INCLUDING THAT OF PIERRE DE SALES LATERRIÈRE

by David S.Crawford

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As might be expected, theOsler Library containsmany medical theses —

some are in collections, and someare individual items; some werepublished recently, and some arequite old primary works.

The “collections” categoryincludes a large number of Frenchmedical theses publishedbetween the late 1700s and the1930s. This collection is actuallyin two distinct parts: the 22,000“French Theses”, mostly pu-blished before 1900,(1) and the10,000 “Paris Theses” thatoriginally belonged to theMcGill Medical Library, weredeposited with the (then)National Science Library in 1972,and returned to McGill in the late1990s. The “Paris Theses”primarily date from 1890 to 1930.By good luck or by chance thereis very little duplication betweenthe two collections — both ofwhich, despite their names,contain only theses from theUniversité de Paris. Titles in theoriginal purchase, the “FrenchTheses”, were individuallycatalogued (based on theirlistings in the sale catalogue) inthe mid-1990s, thanks to fundsspecifically raised by the Friendsof the Osler Library; the libraryis now in the final phases ofcataloguing the “Paris Theses”,again largely thanks to fundingprovided through the Friends.

The other major collection ofolder theses in the Osler Libraryis the “Edinburgh Theses“collection, described in an earlierissue of Osler Library News-letter.(2) The library holds about1100 Edinburgh University

EMERITUS LIBRARIAN DAVIDCrawford pursues his research onnotable medical diplomas, thistime involving the fascinatingtale of Pierre de Sales Laterrière,(c. 1743-1815) a resourceful earlyCanadian doctor who, amongother things spent time in prisonin Quebec on charges of sellingiron and information to invadingAmerican troops in 1779. Sub-sequently Laterrière joinedHarvard University’s secondgraduating class in Medicine andbecame Harvard’s first Canadianmedical graduate.

Chris Lyon’s describes a “big”addition to our collection ofanatomical atlases. The Oslerfamily’s encounters with CharlesDarwin, whose 200th birthday isbeing celebrated this year, arebriefly noted.

Dr. Chuck Roland continues hisCanadian Medical HistoryMiniatures with a brief outline ofthe history of Bishop’s MedicalSchool. �

Osler Library

“Cette thèse ...qui n’aqu’une valeurextrêmementmédiocre aupoint de vuemédicale,en a une aucontraireconsidérableau point devuebibliographique.”

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theses, written in Latin andmostly published between 1793and 1824. Included are theses byseveral people important in thehistory of medicine at McGill andin Canada, such as the 1809theses by Robert Bayard (aboutopium), and William BruceAlmon (electrotherapeutics).Both men give their origin as“Anglo-Americanus ex NovaScotia” and they appear to be thefirst Canadian medical graduatesof the University of Edinburgh.This collection also includes thetheses of two of the founders ofthe McGill Medical Faculty,Andrew Fernando Holmes(tetanus), and John Stephenson(cleft palate). The library alsoowns several commerciallypublished Edinburgh theses andholds three of the four volumesof the published collection ofearly Edinburgh theses edited byWilliam Smellie in the 1780s.(3)

Though one might expect tofind a “McGill medical theses”collection, this is unfortunatelynot the case. It is not absolutelycertain what happened toMcGill’s early medical theses, buttheir absence is attributed to the1907 fire that destroyed theFaculty of Medicine’s mainbuilding. Although the attachedlibrary was saved, the theses —assuming they were in thebuilding — were not. The OslerLibrary does have a few earlyMcGill theses such as those byJoseph Workman and FrederickHart, both from 1835. As notedby David Crawford,(4) the libraryhas only a photocopy of McGill’s(and Canada’s) first medicalthesis, that by William LeslieLogie in 1833. McGill’s Facultyof Medicine ended its MDCMthesis requirement in 1876, andthe more recent McGill graduatemedical theses are held by theRare Books and Special Col-lections Department in theUniversity Library and/or in

McGill’s “e-thesis” collection.(See http://www.mcgill.ca/library-findinfo/escholarship/)

One of the more interestingindividual theses held in theOsler Library is that by Pierre deSales Laterrière.(5) In fact, the manis as interesting, or possibly evenmore interesting, than the thesisitself! Pierre de Sales Laterrièrewas a man with a rathermysterious history: he was amember of Harvard University’ssecond (1789) graduating class inMedicine, and is Harvard’s firstCanadian medical graduate.Ægidius Fauteaux notes that“Cette thèse ... qui n’a qu’unevaleur extrêmement médiocre aupoint de vue médicale, en a uneau contraire considérable aupoint de vue bibliographique.”(6)

He reports that five hundredcopies were printed, and thoughdigitised versions are available,WorldCat reports only abouttwenty of the original printedcopies in libraries today. TheOsler Library copy was pur-chased in 1955 from a dealer inNew York, for $27.

The life story of Pierre de SalesLaterrière is obscure andenigmatic — even his birth nameand date are not totally clear. He

was born on September 23, ineither 1747 or (more likely) 1743,in the Languedoc-Rousillonregion of France. There is a greatdeal of discussion as to whetherhis birth name was actuallyFabre(6,7,8) and it has beensuggested that he took theLaterrière name only on hisarrival in Canada in 1766, wherehe was variously known as Jean,Jean-Baptiste, Jean Pierre, Pierre,and even Peter. His family namewas sometimes spelled as oneword and sometimes two. Hemay or may not have been theson of Count Jean-Pierre de Sales,a member of the well-knownhouse of de Sales. The story ofhis life is described in hisautobiographical Mémoires*,which were published posthu-mously in 1873.(9) The Mémoiresare noticeably inaccurate in manyplaces and Dufour and Hamelinnote, “In the present state ofresearch it is difficult to separatetruth from falsehood since theerrors, contradictions, impro-babilities, and abridgements inhis account, whether deliberateor not, help to confuse issues andeven tend to cast doubt on hisidentity.”(10a) Reginald Fitz, whoseems more inclined to accept the

* Laterrière wrote his memoirs in 1812, three years before his death, andthey remained with his descendents, in manuscript form, until 1870 whenthey were brought to the attention of the historian Abbé Henri Casgrainwho arranged for them to be edited by Alfred Garneau; they were publishedin an “édition intime” in 1873.(9) The original has not been found andthe printed version is based on a copy made in 1855 by Laterrière’sgrandson.(8) Only one hundred copies were produced because his familydid not want too many family details to be revealed. The book wasreprinted in 1980 and, with some useful commentary and a chronologyby Bernard Andrès, in 2003. A translation, by David Heald, of thesections on his time at Harvard was published in the Boston Medicaland Surgical Journal.1909;162(16):517-524. A digitised version ofthe 1873 edition of the Memoires is freely available at the Bibliothèque etArchives nationales du Québec. (http://www.banq.qc.ca )

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In 1779,following(probablyfalse)accusationsofinvolvementin sellinginformationas well asiron to theinvadingAmericanarmy, he wasarrested andheld untilAugust 1782.

statements presented in theMémoires, observes, “The wholeaffair [his reported address to theRoyal Society of Arts in London]serves to remind the reader oncemore that he must consult theMemoir for pleasure and not forminute historical accuracy.”(11)

Bernard Andrès and RenéBeaudoin, who have done muchresearch on Laterrière,(7,8) aremore accepting of the statementsgiven in the Mémoires but the onlything one can say with absolutecertainty is that aspects of hislineage and his life are unclearand the exact dates on which

events occurred is oftenunknown.

Despite all the erroneous,contradictory and improbablereports, the most important factsin Laterrière’s life, especially afterhe moved to Canada, are fairlywell documented and corro-borated. After he left home,Laterrière spent some time inParis, where he says he studiedmedicine in 1765/1766 with thefamous surgeon Charles Dionis(1710–1776) and apprenticedunder a Dr. de la Rochambeau (orRochambaux), a physician toLouis XV’s Queen, MarieLeczinska. He then travelled to

London, England and stayed forseveral months before decidingto come to Canada, where he hadsome contacts. Together with hisuncle (?) Pascal Rustan (Fabre),he sailed from London on July 15,1766, on the barque London andarrived in Quebec City in earlySeptember. He subsequentlyspent time in both Quebec Cityand Montreal (an eight-dayjourney apart, at that time) andworked in several stores ownedby Alexandre Dumas, a friend ofhis uncle. The stores sold drugs,among other things, andprobably also offered oppor-tunities to practise medicine. Forabout fifteen months he shared amedical partnership in St.Thomas, near Montmagny, withDr. Jean-Bernard du Bergès (orDubergès), who held a medicaldiploma from Montpellier.(8)

In 1771 he became the QuebecCity agent for the Forges Saint-Maurice, and as he says in hisMémoires, “ma pratique comme telse réduisit au traitement desjeunes gens attaqués de syphilis.”Les Forges, near Trois-Rivières,was the first (and at that time thelargest) industrial complex inCanada. During the AmericanRevolution and the subsequentAmerican invasion of Canada,the ownership of the Forgeschanged; Laterrière became ashareholder, moved to Trois-Rivières and took over mana-gement of the ironworks. In1779, following (probably false)accusations of involvement inselling information as well as ironto the invading American army,he was arrested and held untilAugust 1782. He then went toNewfoundland to do sometrading for a few months anddoubtless to lie low, but returnedto Quebec in 1783, settled nearQuebec City and, according tohis Mémoires, earned a good livingpractising medicine and doingsome trading.

Portrait of Pierre de Sales Laterrière, reproduction thanks to Bibliothèque etArchives Nationales du Québec, Québec, E6. S8, SS1,SSS286, D1279,PA3.

He applied tothe Board ofExaminers inQuebec Cityfor a licence,but he did notpass theexaminationand could notproduce acertificate, sohisapplicationwas rejected.

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Laterrière’s life seemed to besettled, but on April 30, 1788, thegovernor, Lord Dorchester,proclaimed An Act or Ordinance toprevent persons practising physic andsurgery within the Province of Quebec,or Midwifery in the towns of Quebec orMontreal, without Licence.(12) Therelevant part of the Act reads:

Whereas many inconvenien-ces have arisen to HisMajesty’s subjects in thisProvince, from unskilfulpersons practising physic andsurgery; be it enacted by HisExcellency the Governor andthe Legislative Council thatafter the first day ofNovember next, no personwhatsoever shall on anypretence sell, vend ordistribute medicines byretail, or prescribe for sickpersons for gain, or practicephysic or surgery within theProvince, or practise mid-wifery in the towns ofQuebec and Montreal, or thesuburbs thereof, withoutlicence having had andobtained from His Ex-cellency the Governor or theCommander in Chief of theProvince, for the time being,which licence shall not begranted but upon certificateof the person applying forthe same, having beenexamined and approved bysuch persons as the Governoror Commander in Chief, forthe time being, may haveappointed for the purpose ofexamining and inquiring intothe knowledge of suchpersons in physic, or skill insurgery, or pharmacy, ormidwifery, a copy of whichcertificate is to be annexed tothe licence, which is to beenregistered in the office ofthe clerk of the peace of thedistrict where the prac-titioner resides. … Provided

always, and be it herebyenacted, that nothing in thisOrdinance shall extend, orbe construed to extend, tothe subjecting such personsas have taken a degree in anyUniversity …

Though Laterrière states in hisMémoires that he had obtained amedical certificate in Paris, notrace or evidence of such adocument has ever been found;Laterrière explained that he hadlost his “certificats de Saint-Côme” [a college of surgeons inParis] and his “acte d’appren-tissage” in Paris. He applied tothe Board of Examiners inQuebec City for a licence, but hedid not pass the examination andcould not produce a certificate,so his application was rejected.According to his Mémoires, hisexamination ran from 8am to4pm, included facing a Board offour councilors and four doctors,and also involved contendingwith an audience of curiousonlookers. If the Mémoires are tobe believed, the Board wasprejudiced against him for somereason (possibly connected to hisalleged activities during theAmerican invasion).

However, one of the audiencewas Thomas Aston Coffin, a1772 Harvard graduate, who hadmoved to Canada with otherLoyalists and subsequentlybecame private secretary to SirGuy Carleton, commander-in-chief of British forces in NorthAmerica. In 1786 Coffin was civilsecretary and controller of publicaccounts, based in QuebecCity. He apparently recognisedLaterrière’s potential and urgedhim to go to the new medicalschool at his alma mater†. In fact,it appears the Board of Examinersalso thought this was a good ideaand promised Laterrière acertificate stating he had donewell in front of it (but clearly notwell enough!) Armed with thiscertificate and accompanied byhis brother-in-law and “deuxsauvages qui lui servaient deguides,” he left Quebec in theautumn of 1788 and by De-cember 15 was already borrowingbooks from the Harvardlibrary.(13)

Laterrière apparently obtainedadmission by approaching thePresident of Harvard College,Joseph Willard, who recom-mended him to the Professor ofAnatomy, John Warren. Warren

† The medical school dated from September 19, 1782 when the Presidentand Fellows of Harvard College adopted a report outlining plans for amedical school; its first two graduates, in July 1788, were John Fleet(1766-1813) and George Holmes Hall (d. 1807). Medical educationin that era meant attending formal lectures for a semester or two, andbeing apprenticed to a practising physician for several years. No academicpreparation was required and no written exams were mandatory. Studentsdid not pay tuition, but bought admission tickets to professors’ lectures.Since there was no teaching hospital, there was very little clinical trainingas part of the degree requirement. Until 1811, graduates received thedegree of Bachelor of Medicine — unless they were among the very fewto follow a seven-year course.

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It isnoteworthythat theFrench-bornLaterrière’ssuccess wascertified onJuly 14,1789, theday theBastille fell…

met Laterrière and agreed tosupport his application and todiscuss the matter with hiscolleagues. The next morning themembers of the medical facultyconvened at Warren’s home toexamine the first foreign student,who had come to complete hismedical education at their newschool. Warren was so pleasedwhen his colleagues accepted hisnew protégé that he invitedLaterrière to stay for dinner withthe family. Fitz, who admits thathis own account must give “somerein to the imagination” notes,”One is puzzled, however, to findthat no record of the episodeappears in the annals of theCorporation or Faculty; andindeed the exact manner of LaTerrière’s (sic) admission to themedical school is doubtful.”(13)

The exact chronology andcircumstances of his acceptanceat Harvard may be unclear butthere is no doubt he wasadmitted, presumably before hewas allowed to borrow librarybooks on December 15!

In 1788 the teaching staff at theH a r v a r d m e d i c a l s c h o o lconsisted of three professors:John Warren, professor ofanatomy and surgery; BenjaminWaterhouse, professor of thetheory and practice of physic;and Aaron Dexter, the Dean andprofessor of chemistry andmateria medica. They gaveseveral two- to three-hourlectures each day — consideringthe workload, it is probably goodthat they were young: Warrenwas thirty-five, Waterhouse wasthirty-four and Dexter onlythirty-eight. Laterrière was theirsenior, being in his mid-forties.

On June 30, 1789, after aboutsix months of study and somepractical experience, it was timefor Laterrière and his classmatesto undergo an oral examinationand defend their dissertations inthe presence of not only the

faculty but also the local medicalpractitioners. Laterrière says thatalthough the Class consisted oftwenty-six students, only hisperformance and that of oneother were deemed worthyenough to earn diplomas. Theother was William Pearson(1768–1795), whose dissertationon mixed fever was dedicatedto Dr. Marshall Spring, ofWatertown, “In testimony ofwhose eminence in his professionand extensive practice thisdissertation is respectfullyinscribed by his obliged andgrateful pupil.”(14) The two

successful candidates wereawarded the degree of Bachelorof Medicine. It is noteworthy thatthe French-born Laterrière’ssuccess was certified on July 14,1789, the day the Bastille fell;both he and Pearson wereawarded their degrees thefollowing day. The previous yearHarvard had not awarded theactual degree parchments at theceremony but, perhaps becausehe was a foreigner, Laterrièreapparently received his at thattime.‡

‡ As is common in Universities today, Harvard even then engaged infund-raising and self-publicity. In August 1789, only a month after thegraduation, Dr. Waterhouse, writing under the pseudonymCantabrigiensis, asked John Coakley Lettsom (the founder of the MedicalSociety of London) for funds for the new medical school, noting, “TheCanadian practitioners are beginning to come among us to attend MedicalLectures in order to qualify themselves for practice agreeable to a lateordinance offered by the celebrated Lord Dorchester, who seems determinedto cut quackery out by the roots and has actually prohibited a hundredor two from practising until they put themselves under regular practiceand get them certificates as qualified according to the approved mode ofpractice. Some Canadians have in consequence crossed the lakes andattended Medical Lectures at Cambridge by recommendation of the firstcharacter in Canada. A prospect, therefore, offers of attracting the studentsof that vast Province to the University. But did they know our povertythey would be convinced that the profession could not continue to exertthemselves much longer for the small fees they pay.”(13) (There hadonly been one Canadian student, but the University fund-raisers of todaycould not teach Dr. Waterhouse much about making the most of whatyou have! Furthermore, Harvard gave Lettsom an honorary degree in1790, and in 1796 received from him a collection of rare mineralspecimens, which formed the basis of the Harvard Mineralogical andGeological Museum.)

Harvard continued to try to attract Canadian students and inSeptember 1792 the Quebec Magazine published a quite lengthy bilingualarticle / advertisement for the Harvard medical school addressed to “suchyoung men in that province [Canada], as might be desirous of studyingphysic etc. and whose circumstances, either pecuniary or local, wouldrender it impracticable, or not eligible, to go to Great Britain, for theattaining that most useful branch of science – medicine.”(26)

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Thecertificate issigned by allthree of hisprofessorsand mayhave beenwritten morefor theauthorities inQuebec thanthose atHarvard.

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As was common at the time,both men’s theses were short:Laterrière’s consists of 18 pages,and the actual thesis does notbegin until page 11. Its subjectwas “puerperal fever” and it wasdedicated to Drs. Warren,Wate rhouse and Dex te r,“Gentlemen not more distin-guished by their literaryaccomplishments, and theirprofessional abilities, thanrespected for their attention tostudents, and their talents forinstruction by their HumbleServant, Peter de Sales LaTerriere, from Canada.” Hisintroduction takes two additionalpages and he notes, notunreasonably:

To produce a dissertation ina language I have neverprofessedly studied before Ientered these walls is not soeasy as some perhaps mayimagine: but relying on thatcandor which distinguishes apolite education, I amemboldened to offer thisspecimen of my studies,hoping that every deficiencyof language will be excused.

He goes on:

I shall say a few words for theinformation of those whomay wonder to see a personof my age engaged in thestudy of physic. … Ignoranceand quackery having …spread among us, to the greatdetriment of the lives of hisBritannic Majesty’s subjects itexcited the attention of thelegislature, and particularlyof the humane LordDorchester, issued anOrdonance (sic) obligingevery practitioner to undergoan examination before acommittee of physicians andmembers of the legislativecouncil.

The result of this planwas – a certain numberhaving been examined, wereapproved and permitted togo on in practice; a numberwere rejected as unqualifiedand some were passedconditionally, that is, theywere recommended to passsome time at any university,where medicine is taughtwith regularity, according tothe most improved Britishsystems.

Finding myself includedamong the last, I … set off

for the University ofCambridge, which had beenstrongly recommended tome as a medical school whereI could obtain every thing theOrdonance required of me.(5)

As was the case in Quebec whenMcGill’s first medical degree wasawarded in 1833,(4,15) there werevarious undercurrents at play inBoston. Like the Medical Boardin Montreal sixty years later, theMassachusetts Medical Society,which had the right to licence

Certificate attesting to Pierre de Sales Laterrière’s degree of Bachelor ofMedicine, 14 July, 1789. Reproduction thanks to Bibliothèque et ArchivesNationales du Québec, Québec, P1000. S3, D2213.

·7· �physicians, was increasinglyworried that Harvard’s newmedical school would impinge onits turf and that the university’sdegrees would confer the right topractise. The Society’s President,Cotton Tufts, conveyed hisconcerns to Harvard’s PresidentWillard in October 1789. Hisletter has been lost, but Willard’sresponse confirmed only thatLaterrière had received a diplomaand was a foreigner. Verifyingthat Harvard clearly HADawarded an obscure Canadian amedical degree did not assuageTufts’ annoyance, since theprivileges of a medical degreeincluded the right to practise inmost parts of the world. Theargument continued for severalyears and, as with the McGillmedical degrees, subsequentHarvard diplomas were changedso that the “word[s] andexpression[s] that could be

construed as implying a right orlicence to practice physic wereexpunged.”(13)

In fact, Laterrière received notonly a degree but also a certificatesigned by his three professors.The certificate is, according toFitz, unlike anything seen beforeor since. It reads:

Whereas Mr. La Terrièrehath diligently attended ourlectures on Anatomy andSurgery, Theory and Practiceof Physic, Chemistry andMateria Medica, in thisUniversity, we the medicalprofessors have strictlyexamined him in the abovebranches of our Art and haveread and approved hisdissertation on the PuerperalFever we do hereby certifythat we have found him so farqualified in his profession asto recommend him to the

reverend and honorableCorporation and Overseersas worthy of a degree ofBachelor in medicine. Intestimony whereof we havehereunto subscribed ournames this 14th day of July1789.(16)

The certificate is signed by allthree of his professors and mayhave been written more for theauthorities in Quebec than thoseat Harvard.

According to Fitz, the degreeitself is also unusual.(16) It wasapparently the practice in thosedays for graduates to have theirown degree certificates preparedand then to get them signed byanyone they could find. TheLaterrière diploma appears tohave been prepared by aprofessional scrivener withuniversity sanction and looksmore like an honorary than a

Pierre de Sales Laterrière’s Harvard Medical diploma, 15 July, 1789. Reproduction thanks to Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec,Québec, P1000. S3, D2213.

After a brieforalexaminationand scrutinyof hisextraordinarydegree andcertificate, theBoard ofMedicalExaminerspromptlyawarded himthe right topractise.

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regular degree. Fitz provides atranslation from the originalLatin:

The Senate of HarvardUniversity of Cambridge inthe Commonwealth ofMassachusetts sends to all towhom the present letterarrives eternal greeting in theLord.

Whereas Peter de Sales LaTerrière, a Canadian, a manendowed with great talentsand knowledge and adornedwith excellent character,after he had devoted muchtime to the study andpractice of medicine andconstantly attended thelectures of all the professorsof medicine of this Uni-versity and whereas, afterholding a public examinationand announcing his disser-tation on Puerperal Fever, allthe aforesaid professorsfound that he had madepraiseworthy progress in theart of medicine and gave awritten testimonial to thateffect that it be known thathe is worthy of beingadmitted to the grade ofBachelor of Medicine.

Wherefore, we, the Presidentand Fellows, with theconsent of the reverendOverseers and of theaforesaid University, haveadmitted Peter de Sales LaTerrière to the grade ofBachelor of Medicine andhave given him the right ofgiving counsel in medicine,of engaging in practice andthe other functions thatBachelors of Medicine arewont to perform, and wehave granted him all theinsignia, rights and privi-leges, dignities and honorsby which those who have

been elevated to a degree ofthis sort anywhere in theworld are adorned or deserveto be adorned.

In testimony of this act,to this letter, corroborated byour common seal, we have,on 15th of July in the humanyear of salvation 1789 andthe 14th of the AmericanRepublic, affixed our chiro-graphies.(16,17)

Laterrière returned to QuebecCity quite quickly (apparentlywithout the “deux sauvages” toguide him), and met his friendCoffin there on August 15th.After a brief oral examination andscrutiny of his extraordinary

degree and certificate, the Boardof Medical Examiners promptlyawarded him the right to practise.According to Laterrière’s Mé-moires,(9) on August 19, 1789, theBoard stated, “… Peter de SalesLa Terrière, late of the Parish ofGentilly, in the district ofQuebec, Gentleman, appearedthis day before us, and produceda bachelor’s degree in physic fromthe University of Cambridge, inthe State of Massachusetts Bay,very ample certificates of hisgreat exertions in study and arecommendation from theProfessors of said University, alsoa recommandatory letter fromDoctor Pain (sic)§, late physicianto the British hospital at Halifax,

§ “Dr Pain” is certainly Dr William Paine, who was born in Worcester,Massachusetts, on 5 June 1750, graduated in arts from Harvard in1768, was awarded an MD by Marischal College, Aberdeen, in 1774,and qualified as a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (LRCP)of London in 1781. He was a Loyalist who became a British armyphysician and in 1782 was posted to Nova Scotia. At the time of hisarrival there, Dr Paine was the most highly qualified medical doctor tohave practised in the province, for he was the first to have both the MDand the LRCP qualifications. He remained in Halifax until June 1784,when he moved to Passamaquoddy in New Brunswick. Although hehad been banished from Massachusetts for political reasons, he wasaccepted back into Worcester in 1789, where he lived and practised untilhis death in 1833.(27)

According to the Mémoires, Paine’s letter was actually addressed toDr. Nooth, who Latèrriere describes as “le premier médecin anglois deQuébec”. Dr. John Mervin Nooth had been the superintendent generalin charge of all British military hospitals in North America and theWest Indies, and had been Paine’s superior while Paine was the directorof all the British army hospitals in Halifax; in 1788 Nooth had beenappointed superintendent general of hospitals in Quebec City. He wasthe inventor of Nooth’s Apparatus, which is described in the Dictionaryof Canadian Biography as being “widely employed for some decades toproduce fixed air, which among many uses was highly regarded as atherapeutic agent. His suggestion that his method would permit theproduction of artificial spring waters, thus saving patients the expense ofvisiting distant spas, proved unsuccessful in practice, but it presaged thenow ubiquitous carbonated beverage industry.”(10b,28)

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He heldofficialappointmentsas a doctor inseveralhospitals aswell as aprison inTrois-Rivières, andin 1792 hada medicalapprentice,Jean Duff.

in the Province of Nova Scotia:upon examination we found himdeserving thereof, and conceivethat he may be licensed topractise Physic, Surgery andPharmacy.” Obviously his ‘veryample’ Harvard degree andcertificate had done the trick!

Though there were certainlyforeign medical graduatespractising in Canada before1789, they were usually retired oractive military medical officers,or civilians who had receivedtheir degrees before setting footin Canada. It is unclear whetherLaterrière was the first ‘real’Canadian to obtain a medicaldegree but it seems likely.Lefebvre and Desjardins, in theiruseful article on Canadians whoreceived foreign medical degreesin the 19th century,(18) do notmention him at all, possiblybecause he was born in France,though he had lived in Canadafor over 20 years before obtainingthe degree and would certainlyfit the modern definition of aCanadian citizen. The earliestforeign medical graduate recog-nized by Lefebvre and Desjardinsis the Canadian-born FrançoisRieutord who received histraining at Queen’s College inNew Jersey, “probably before1793.”(10c,18) They also refer toFrançois Blanchet, whose 246-page French-language thesis(which is in the Osler Library)was presented in New York in1800.(19) Their list mentions the1810 Edinburgh graduateThomas Fargues, from Quebec,but does not mention either ofthe Nova Scotians, RobertBayard and William Almond,who received Edinburgh degreesin 1809. All three were born inCanada, and their theses are allin the Osler Library.(2)

For several years afterobtaining his Quebec licenceLaterrière seems to have given uphis involvement in trading and

become a full-time physician andsurgeon. He held officialappointments as a doctor inseveral hospitals as well as aprison in Trois-Rivières, and in1792 had a medical apprentice,Jean Duff. He maintained hisinterest in midwifery, and inMarch 1791 sent his “Re-presentations concerning thepractice of midwifery in countryplaces” to the Legislative Councilof Quebec.(20) In 1807–08, whilein Europe trying to claim a familyinheritance in France, he visitedLondon and in 1807 was electeda Corresponding Member of theRoyal Society of Arts.(21) Hecontinued to operate a pharmacyand to practise medicine inQuebec City until about 1810,when he purchased the Seigneu-ry des Éboulements, and in 1813was appointed as a Judge for theDistrict of Québec.(22) He wrotehis Mémoires in 1811-1812, diedin Quebec City on June 14, 1815,and is buried in the Chapel of St.Anne in the cathedral of Québec.

Laterrière had three children,a girl and two boys; both the boysalso became doctors. Pierre-Jean(10d) was born in July 1789(perhaps one explanation for hisfather’s quick return fromHarvard?), and, after an ap-prenticeship with his father,studied medicine with AstleyCooper at St. Thomas’ Hospitalin London. According to therecords of the Royal College ofSurgeons, he was examined andawarded the College diploma(thus becoming a member) onMay 19th, 1809. He practicedmedicine in Quebec City,operated a drug store, and playeda prominent part in the medicallife of the city. Pierre-Jean wasamong the founders of theQuebec Dispensary (whichprovided free drugs to the needy)and was a member of thefounding committee of a QuebecCity branch of the Royal

Humane Society of London forthe Recovery of the ApparentlyDrowned or Dead, a Societywhich had interested his fatherduring the latter’s 1807–08sojourn in London.(23) In 1823, heand his English wife moved toLondon, a base from which hespent the rest of his life, thoughhe often traveled betweenCanada and Europe, trying tobring the deteriorating politicalsituation in Quebec to theattention of the British peopleand government.(24) He died in1834, while on a visit to LesÉboulements, in Quebec.

His younger brother, Marc-Pascal,(10e) was born in 1792 andstudied medicine under BenjaminRush in Philadelphia.(25) He wenton to become a member of theLegislative Assembly of LowerCanada and, after Upper andLower Canada were united, theProvince of Canada. He ran,unsuccessfully, for a seat in thefirst parliament of Canada in1867 and died in 1872. �

References1.Wallis, Faith. An Outstanding

Acquisition: 22,500 Medicaltheses from France. Osler LibraryNewsletter. 1988 June; no.58:2.(A digitised version is freelyavailable at http://www.mcgill.c a / f i l e s / o s l e r - l i b r a r y /no58June1988.pdf )

2.Crawford, David S. EdinburghUniversity medical theses atthe Osler Library. Osler LibraryNewsletter. 2004; no.101:1-6. ( Adigitised version is freelyavailable at http://www.mcgill.c a / f i l e s / o s l e r - l i b r a r y /Osnl101.pdf )

3.Smellie, William. ThesaurusMedicus: sive, disputationum, inAcademia Edinensi, ad rem medicampertinentium, a collegio instituto adhoc usque tempus, delectus.Edinburgi: Typis academicis,1778-1785.

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4.Crawford, David S. Montreal,Medicine and William LeslieLogie: McGill’s first graduateand Canada’s first medicalgraduate. 175th anniversary,1833-2008. Osler LibraryNewsletter. 2008; no.109:1-7. (Adigitised version is freelyavailable at http://www.mcgill.c a / f i l e s / o s l e r - l i b r a r y /No1092008.pdf )

5.Laterrière, Pierre de Sales. ADissertation on the Puerperal Fever.Boston: Samuel Hall, 1789. (AFrench translation of the thesisis available as part of JacquesG. Ruelland’s biographicalarticle, Pierre de Sales Laterrière1745-1815 Médecin et libre penseur,at http://marigot.ca/html/setintro.htm )

6.Fauteaux, Ægidius. La thèse deLaterrière. Bulletin des RecherchesHistoriques. 1931; 37:174-175.

7.Andrès, Bernard. L’influencedes livres: figures du savoirmédical chez Pierre de Sales.Laterrière et Philippe Aubert deGaspé fils. Voix et Images. 1994;19(3):466-486. (A digitisedversion is freely available athttp://id.erudit.org/iderudit/201113ar )

8.Beaudoin, René. Pierre de SalesLaterrière, médecin, mémo-rialiste et prototype del’aventurier des lettres. Cahiersde l’ALAQ. 1993 aôut; no.2:43-56.

9.Laterrière, Pierre de Sales. LesMémoires de Pierre de Sales Laterrière;suivi de Correspondances. [éditépar] Bernard Andrès. Montréal:Triptyque, 2003.

10. The Dictionary of CanadianBiography. (Freely available athttp://www.biographi.ca)a. see Sales Laterrière, Pierre deb. see Nooth, John Mervinc. see Rieutord, Jean-Baptiste

(Jean-Baptiste is FrançoisRieutord’s father; François ismentioned in the finalparagraphs)

d. see Sales Laterrière, Pierre-Jean de

e. see Laterrière, Marc-Pascalde Sales

11. Fitz, Reginald. The surprisingcareer of Peter La Terrière,Bachelor in Medicine (Part I).Annals of Medical History. 1941July; Ser.3, 3:265-282.

12. An Act or Ordinance to preventpersons practising physic and surgerywithin the Province of Quebec, orMidwifery in the towns of Quebec orMontreal, without Licence. 1788; 28Geo III, c8. (A digitised versionis available to subscribers athttp://www.canadiana.org/view/42695/252 )

13. Fitz, Reginald. The surprisingcareer of Peter La Terrière,Bachelor in Medicine (Part II).Annals of Medical History. 1941September; Ser.3, 3:395-417.

14. Pearson, William. A dissertationon the mixed fever: delivered June 30,1789, at a public examination for thedegree of Bachelor in Medicine, beforethe Rev. Joseph Willard, S.T.D.president, the medical professors, andthe governors of the university atCambridge in America. [Boston:s.n., 1789.]

15. Tunis, Barbara R. Medicallicensing in Lower Canada: thedispute over Canada’s firstmedical degree. CanadianHistorical Review. 1974 Dec;55(4):489-504. (A digitisedversion is available tosubscribers at http://www.metapre s s . com/conten t /120322/ )

16. Fitz, Reginald. A word fromthe age that is past. HarvardMedical Alumni Bulletin. 1945;19(2):48-51.

17. Fitz, Reginald. The HarvardMedical School 1788-89.Mémoires de Pierre de Sales LaTerrière et ses traverses. HarvardMedical Alumni Bulletin. 1960October; 35:20-24.

18. Lefebvre, Jean-Jacques;Desjardins, Edouard. Lesmédecins canadiens diplômés

des universités étrangères auXIXe siècle. Union Médicale duCanada. 1972 mai; 101:935-951.

19. Blanchet, François Xavier.Recherches sur la medecine, ouL’application de la chimie a lamedecine. New-York: L’Impri-merie de Parisot, 1800.

20. Fonds de la Seigneurie desÉboulements, 22 mars 1791. pp483-485. Archives des Frèresdu Sacré Coeur: Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec. (A typedcopy of this document, madein 1941, is in the CountwayLibrary at Harvard University.)

21. Royal Society of Arts.Personal communication,January 2009.

22. The Quebec Gazette – Gazette deQuébec. 1813 January 14.

23. The Quebec Gazette – Gazette deQuébec. 1808 June 30.(Laterrière published a noticein this issue announcing hiselection and providing aFrench translation of theofficial letter from the RoyalSociety of Arts.)

24. “A Canadian” [i.e. Laterrière,Pierre-Jean de Sales]. A Politicaland Historical Account of LowerCanada; With Remarks on thePresent Situation of the People, AsRegards Their Manners, Character,Religion, &C. &C. London: W.Marsh & A. Miller; Edin-burgh: Constable, 1830.

25. Casgrain, Henri Raymond. Lafamille de Sales Laterrière. Québec:Atelier typographique deL. Brousseau, 1870.

26. The Quebec Magazine – LeMagasin de Québec. 1792;1(2):108-116.

27. Marble, Allan Everett. Surgeon,Smallpox and the Poor: a history ofmedicine and social conditions inNova Scotia, 1749-1799.Montreal: McGill-Queen’sUniversity Press, 1993.

28. Zuck, David. Dr. Nooth andhis apparatus: the role ofcarbon dioxide in medicine in

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This workwas producedin fifteenparts in Parisbetween 1823and 1826 bya physiciannamedFrancescoAntommarchi(1789-1838).

ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE,WAR AND

ANATOMICAL

ATLAS PUBLISHING

by Chris Lyons

T he Osler Library ispleased to announce thatit has added something

big to its collection of anatomicalatlases; in fact, it is the biggestbook in our library. EntitledPlanches anatomiques du corps humain,exécutées d’après les dimensions naturellesaccompagnées d’un texte explicative,this bibliographic behemoth is 3

feet high by 24.5 inches wide andfeatures full sized illustrations ofvarious aspects of the humanbody. We purchased this rarework at auction in Germany lastNovember. According to World-Cat, the union catalogue ofNorth American, European andother academic and nationallibraries, only one otherCanadian library and 6 Americanlibraries possess this atlas. Givenits unwieldy size, readerssometimes removed the platesthey needed in their work,possibly for display in aclassroom; our copy showsevidence of this.

This work was produced infifteen parts in Paris between1823 and 1826 by a physiciannamed Francesco Antommarchi(1789-1838). The printer, the

the late eighteenth century.British Journal of Anaesthesia.1978; 50:393-405. (A digitisedversion is available tosubscribers at http://bja.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/50/4/393 )

Further readingAndrès, Bernard. L’Énigme de SalesLaterrière. Montreal: QuébecAmérique, 2000.

Andrès, Bernard. The life & timesof Pierre de Sales Laterrière. TheBeaver: Exploring Canada’s History.2002 Aug-Sept; 82(4):23-26. (Adigitised version is freelyavailable at http://www.accessm y l i b r a r y . c o m / c o m s 2 /summary_0286-31070659_ITM)

ThanksThis paper would not have beenwritten had W.W. Francis notnoted “First foreign medical graduateof Harvard” on the Osler Library’scatalogue card of the Laterrièrethesis; this note was transferredto the online catalogue recordwhere it caught my eye. Being asceptic, I checked this out withmy old friend Lucretia McClureof the Countway Library atHarvard, who confirmed thisstatement and referred me tosome further information onLaterrière. As usual my friend andcolleague Deanna Cowan rigo-rously edited my prose and myreferences; if this brief article isreadable it is thanks to hereditorial prowess.

Afterreturning toParis in1822 hebeganproducing thePlanchesanatomiques,using severalof Mascagni’sillustrations,along withsomeadaptationsand new ones.

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Comte de Lateyrie, was a pioneerof the new printing technique oflithography, a process whichsimplified book illustration. Withthis new process, one couldtransfer an illustration drawn witha greasy pencil on a hard surface,

for example stone, directly ontopaper as opposed to having toengrave an image onto a metalplate first, ink the plate and thenpress plate to paper. Likephotocopying and scanningtoday, however, the relative ease

of lithography may haveencouraged some piracy, sincemany of Antommarchi’s illus-trations were actually done by anItalian anatomy professor namedPaolo Mascagni (1752-1815).According to Anatomy as Art1,Mascagni spent several yearsworking on his monumentalAnatomia Universale, but this andother works remained un-published at the time of his deathin 1815. Antommarchi, who hadbeen Mascagni’s prosector at theUniversity of Siena, edited twoof these posthumous publicationsuntil a quarrel broke out withMascagni’s estate over the profits.In 1819 the doctor left for St.Helena to become the exiledNapoleon’s physician. He wroteabout this experience in a bookentitled Mémoires du docteur F.Antommarchi, ou, Les derniers momensde Napoléon, which the McGillLibrary has in its collection. After

·13· �He spokemuch ofPrincipalDawson ofMcGill, forwhose workon fossilbotany hehad a greatregard.

THE OSLERS AND

CHARLES DARWIN

by Pamela Miller

This year marks the 200th

anniversary of the birth ofCharles Darwin. The year

2009 is also the 150th anniversaryof the publication of, On the Originof Species (1859) which stirred upscientific, philosophical andreligious controversies thatendure to the present. WilliamOsler was born, was educatedand flourished as the debatescontinued. Osler noted inside thecover of, “On the tendency ofspecies to form varieties; and onthe perpetuation of varieties andspecies by natural means ofselection by Charles Darwin andAlfred Wallace…” taken from theJournal of the Proceedings of the LinneanSociety, vol. 3 no. 9, London, 1858(B.O. 1565),

“I have had this number boundseparately as containing the twomost fruitful contributions toscience made in the 19th century,contributions which have revo-lutionized modern thought… Ionly saw Darwin once. Duringthe winter of 1872-3 his sonFrancis worked at the table nextto me in Burdon Sanderson’slaboratory at University College.Several times in the spring hetalked of taking me to Down forthe week-end, but his father wasailing. It was I think, the nextspring, I mean in ’74, that I sawhim at the Royal Societyreception (?).

He spoke much of PrincipalDawson of McGill, for whose

work on fossil botany he had agreat regard. I remember howpleased I was that he should haveasked after Dr. Dawson. He wasa most kindly old man, of largeframe, with great bushy beardand eyebrows. Feb. 28, 1915.W.O.”

Dawson did not accept Darwin’stheory of evolution but thisclearly did not diminish theirmutual respect.

For years Dawson taught botanyin the Faculty of Medicine andOsler refused McGill’s initialoffer of employment which wasto teach Dawson’s course, partly

returning to Paris in 1822 hebegan producing the Planchesanatomiques, using several ofMascagni’s illustrations, alongwith some adaptations and newones. This was issued in 15 partsbetween 1823 and 1826.Meanwhile, an authorized ver-sion of the Anatomia Universabegan production in Pisa. It wasissued in 9 parts between 1823and 1832, using the older andmore labour intensive illustrativeprinting technique of engraving.Like Antommarchi’s work, it wastoo large to be easily used, so arelatively smaller folio versionentitled Anatomia Universale waspublished in 1833 in Florence.2

In an earlier attempt to acquirethis atlas, the Osler Library wasthe underbidder of the 1833 workat the Christie’s auction of theanatomical books of Dr. DeanEdell in 2007, so getting the fullsized Antommarchi edition wasparticularly sweet. Viewers so farhave been very impressed withboth the size of the work and thequality of the illustrations. TheOsler Library’s conservator TerryRutherford has done somerestoration work so that morepeople can enjoy this literallymonumental work. �

Notes1 Anatomy as Art: The Dean Edell

Collection. New York:Christie’s, 2007.

2 Information was drawn fromthe work noted above plusMascagni: Images from AnatomiaUniversa. University of Iowa,Hardin Library. http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/mascagni/index.html [accessed19 March 2009].

Charles Darwin 1809-1882, Osler Library PortraitCollection

Had heaccepted theinvitation, hewould havejoined theBeagle, andworked withCharlesDarwin onhis famousvoyage.

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ROLAND’SCANADIAN

MEDICAL HISTORY

MINIATURES

by Charles G. Roland

Bishop’s College Medical School

L ong extinct, Bishop’sMedical School played animportant role for a few

years at the turn of the 20th

century. The school was theintellectual child of the St.Lawrence School of Medicine,though there was no direct link.These two medical schools havebeen the only ones to challengethe hegemony of the McGillFaculty of Medicine in English-language medical teaching inQuebec.

McGill was incorporated in 1829.The St. Lawrence school func-tioned briefly around 1850 butdid not long survive the

competition. Bishop’s didconsiderably better, offeringmedical education from 1871until 1905.

As is so often the case with short-lived institutions, it was theenergy of one person thatprovided much of the impetus;once removed, the schoolfoundered. At Bishop’s that vitalperson was Dr. Francis WaylandCampbell (1837-1905).

Not surprisingly, perhaps, one ofthe motivations spurring Campbelland his colleagues to establish anew school was the difficultynon-McGill practitioners had inacquiring hospital appointments.McGill controlled most of theseand was loath to surrender itsperquisites to outsiders. Inaddition, there was a convictionamongst the Bishop’s pioneersthat competition was good for itsown sake.

The first dean of the new and asyet unnamed medical school wasDr. Charles Smallwood; Campbellwas Secretary, Treasurer, andRegistrar — hardly an éminence

on the grounds that he did notknow enough about the subject.This so called lack of botanicalknowledge did not prevent Oslerfrom assembling a superbcollection of herbals for hislibrary including copies of worksby Theophrastus (c.371-287B.C.) the founder of botany,Dioscorides (1st century) and the13th century Arabic manuscript ofal-Ghafiqi. Osler’s collection ofDarwinian material includes theworks of Darwin as well as thoseof Erasmus Darwin, Sir FrancisGalton, Thomas Henry Huxley,Gregor Johann Mendel, HerbertSpencer, Alfred Russel Wallaceand August Weismann.

Family history records that in1832 Osler’s father Featherstone,while stationed in Rio de Janeiroon the Algerine, received aninvitation from the Captain of afrigate sailing on special serviceto the East Indies, to replace theofficer in charge of the scientificdepartment. Featherstone wastempted, but turned down theinvitation because his father wasunwell and he wished to returnto England see him and to writenaval exams necessary to confirmhis officer’s rank.2 Had heaccepted the invitation, he wouldhave joined the Beagle, andworked with Charles Darwin onhis famous voyage. InsteadFeatherstone returned toEngland, left the navy for thechurch, and served in Canadawhere he and his wife Ellen raisedtheir talented children. �

Notes1 Lions in the Way, A DiscursiveHistory of the Oslers, AnneWilkinson, Toronto, 1956, p.15.

University of Bishop’s College Medical School (from an advertisement in theCanada Medical Record for 1874). Osler Library Archives, P130 E.H.Bensley Fonds.

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Rather, theschool ismemorablebecause itacceptedwomen asmedicalstudents whileMcGilladamantlyrefused to doso.

grise! One of the first tasks wasto effect affiliation with auniversity so that the schoolcould grant degrees. This was acrucial step because degree-bearing graduates of Canadianand British universities couldobtain the license to practicesimply by application. All othershad to take, and pass, exami-nations administered by theMedical Board before receivinga license. Eventually the doctorswere able to make suitablearrangements with the Universityo f B i s h o p ’s C o l l e g e i nLennoxville, Québec. By March1871 the University formallyagreed to the proposal andestablished 1 October 1871 asthe date to begin operations.

Troubles loomed from thebeginning. The Montreal GeneralHospital was a McGill enclaveand now, despite earlier assu-rances, McGill was threateningnot to let Bishop’s students on thewards. This and other problemswere overcome in the end and theschool opened officially onschedule, in Montreal.

In 1876 a body-snatching scandalthreatened the young school.The body of a woman fromCornwall, Ontario, had beenremoved from a cemetery there.She turned up on a dissectingtable at Bishop’s. The studentinvolved was one Émile CharlesJenigor, who was warned by theschool — probably Dr. Campbell— to stay away from the city toavoid arrest.

Bishop’s best reason for remainingin memory relates to none ofthese events, however. Rather,the school is memorable becauseit accepted women as medicalstudents while McGill adamantlyrefused to do so. Thanks to an

Wood Gold Medal awarded to another distinguished female doctor, MinnieGomery (1875-1967) who graduated from Bishop’s Medical School in 1895.Awarded to a senior student for highest aggregate marks overall. Donated byMargaret Saul.

Portrait of Maude Abbott by Mary Bell Eastlake. Osler Library PortraitCollection.

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It is perhapsironic thatafter shegraduatedfrom Bishop’s,MaudeAbbott joinedthe McGillFaculty ofMedicine.

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endowment from Lord Strathcona,women were encouraged to enterMcGill’s main university systemfrom 1888; but this experimentwas vetoed by the medicalfaculty. Bishop’s, decidingotherwise, thus acquired amongother students, one who standsout in select group of contri-butors to Canadian medicalscience: Maude ElizabethSeymour Abbott (1869-1940).

Abbott was a McGill graduate inArts but could not gainacceptance into the medicalschool. It is perhaps ironic thatafter she graduated from Bishop’s,Maude Abbott joined the McGillFaculty of Medicine. There, overa period of almost four decades,she established a reputation as anauthoritative pathologist specia-lizing in the study of cardiacdefects. Her atlas of such defects,published in the 1930s, advancedthe field enormously. Certainly itwas one of the many contri-butions that made possiblecardiac surgery as we know ittoday. The atlas was re-issuedvery recently.

Thus Bishop’s College School ofMedicine may have followed Dr.Francis Campbell, its strongestsupporter, to the grave, but itsinfluence lives on in the work ofgraduates such as Maude Abbott.�

NOTES FROM THE

OSLER LIBRARY

T hree hospitals arecelebrating their 75th

anniversary this year: theJewish General Hospital, theMontreal Chest Hospital and theMontreal Neurological Institute.The Jewish General Hospital hasprepared a travelling exhibition

that will be located at the entryof the Osler Library fromSeptember 4th to September 25th.A display to mark the MontrealNeurological Institute’s anniver-sary is being planned.

Dr. Edwin A. Mirand hasforwarded us a copy of Dr. RoswellPark and the World’s First CancerCenter, by Dr. Donald L. Trumpand Dr. Mirand. In his note heunderlines the role that WilliamOsler played in keeping theInstitute going when politicalsupport was needed to keep theinstitution functioning.

Our newsletter has turned green.This present issue is the first tobe printed digitally without thewaste of film negatives and metalplates of offset printing. Thepaper you are holding calledRockland 140 m in Ivory colouruses 30 percent post-consumerreclaimed material in accordancewith the Forest StewardshipCouncil (FSC). Your greenerNewsletter is, of course, asalways100 percent recyclable. �

Editorial Committee for theNewsletter: Faith Wallis, Editor;Pamela Miller, History ofMedicine Librarian and AssistantEditor; Lily Szczygiel, EditorialAssistant.

Address: Osler Library of theHistory of Medicine, McGillUniversity, McIntyre MedicalSciences Building, 3655Promenade Sir-William-Osler,Montréal, Québec, Canada,H3G 1Y6.Tel: (514) 398-4475 ext. 09873Fax: (514) 398-5747E-mail: osler.library@mcgill.caURL: http://www.mcgill.ca/osler-library/

Legal Deposit 1/2009 ISSN0085-4557 (Print)Legal Deposit 1/2009 ISSN1712-7955 (Online)

In mid-February, library staff, friends and colleagues gathered to celebrate Dr.Theodore Sourkes 90th birthday.