McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Letter to Mabel Brewster, April 8, 1917
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 Mabel Brewster from William Osler, 13, Norham Gardens, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. Acknowledgement of her photo. Mentions that he has spent the first unhappy Easter of his life. They have had no letters from Revere for ten days. Glad of the turn of events in USA. The moral support will be immense, and they will need all the financial and physical support before the war is over. Looking forward for E.S Martin's editorial in Life. Comments on Martin and on Life. He disapproves of the writers who malign his beloved profession. Will send her a book worm plate and his article on it. Will send her a postcard when they have news from Revere.
Copy or transcription.
Cushing's colour code: White (Correspondence)