McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Letter to Fielding Hudson Garrison, December 10, 1915
Item
A major figure in modern medical history, Sir William Osler is well known as a scientific researcher, a great medical pedagogue, a humanist, and an advocate for a patient-centered approach to medicine.
Born in Bond Head, Ontario, in 1849, Osler earned his medical degree at McGill University, and later taught at McGill's Faculty of Medicine from 1874 until 1884. Osler then joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he was appointed Chair of Clinical Medicine before becoming Physician-in-Chief and one of the "Big Four" founders of Johns Hopkins Hospital and medical school in Baltimore – the first school of its kind to train medical students in a modern residency program. Osler finished his career as Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, where he also devoted time to his passion for book collecting. His library of nearly eight thousand rare and historic works of the history of medicine and science is known as the Bibliotheca Osleriana, documented by a published catalogue of the same title.
Sir William Osler was knighted in 1911 in recognition of his contributions to medical science and teaching. His library of 7600 volumes on the history of medicine and science bequeathed to McGill University forms the nucleus of the present Osler Library of the History of Medicine. His life and contributions to medicine are described in detail in the Pulitzer-Prize winning biography "Life of Sir William Osler" (London: Oxford University Press, 1925) by Harvey Cushing.
Letter to Fielding Hudson Garrison from William Osler, 13, Norham Gardens, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. Apologizes for having neglected him but with his Secretary, butler and chauffeur gone, he is in a hopeless mess. He is in arrears with work. Still struggling with the Early printed Incunabula paper, a new edition and with many interesting cases of sick and wounded. Mentions the many cases of para-typhoid from the Dardanelles. Mentions the visit to Oxford of the Harvard Unit. Word about the fire in their dining-room. Hopes he had a good trip with Klebs. Good reports on Garrison's book. Klebs' paper in the S.H.B. is interesting. Asks him when he will issue a second edition, as he has a few corrections. Mentions the good form of the country and of the army. They exclude the idea of an inconclusive peace. Gives his opinion on the war. Greetings to the librarians and to Klebs.
Copy or transcription.
Cushing's colour code: White (Correspondence)