McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Letter to Francis John Shepherd, October 18, 1901
Item
1 page
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 Francis John Shepherd from William Osler, 1, West Franklin Street, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The Oslers returned from Europe three weeks ago, but Mrs. Osler and Revere have just returned from Canada. Osler had to stay in Baltimore to prepare the medical school for the new session. He reports on his travels in England and Holland over the summer, during which he attended the British Congress on Tuberculosis and the meeting of the British Medical Association. He later joined his wife and son in Scotland. He writes of his rare book findings, especially from Müller in Holland. He is finding it difficult to keep up his medical practice and still have time for teaching and private work. Osler is glad that Shepherd is now the president of the Canadian Medical Association and offers to deliver an address at the next meeting. He has enjoyed reading Macallum's addresses and wonders if it is too late to have his and Wright's portraits done. He mentions Schäfer and Stephen MacKenzie.
Fragile.
Copy or transcription.
Cushing's colour code: White (Correspondence)