Fonds P155 - W.W. Francis Fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

W.W. Francis Fonds

General material designation

Parallel title

Other title information

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

  • Source of title proper: Title based on the documents in the fonds.

Level of description

Fonds

Repository

Reference code

CA OSLER P155

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1929-1959 (Creation)
    Creator
    Francis, William Willoughby, 1878-1959

Physical description area

Physical description

185 cm of textual records

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

Parallel titles of publisher's series

Other title information of publisher's series

Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

Numbering within publisher's series

Note on publisher's series

Archival description area

Name of creator

(1878-1959)

Biographical history

Born in Montreal in 1878, William Willoughby Francis earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1902. After interning at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital and spending some time in Europe to pursue postgraduate studies, Francis came back to Montreal where he opened a practice in 1906. He later became editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, then Registrar of the No.3 Canadian General Hospital in France during the First World War. When his second cousin Sir William Osler died in 1919, he donated his library to McGill University. Francis co-edited the catalogue of Sir William Osler's library, the Bibliotheca Osleriana, and ran the Osler Library of the History of Medicine until his death in 1959.

Custodial history

The fonds was generated by W.W. Francis during his time as Osler Librarian. Includes old accession numbers 13, 27, 73, 842, and 889. Several folders previously in this collection were transferred to the current files of the library before the collection was accessioned and transferred to MSS. Index cards for these folders carry a note of transfer.

Scope and content

The fonds contains correspondence related to the Osler Library and its holdings with people such as Maude Abbott, Edward Archibald, William B. Bean, Edward Horton Bensley, Archibald Malloch, Casey Wood, as well as John Farquhar Fulton, Keeper of the Medical History Collections at Yale University's library; the fonds also contains a typescript of talks by W.W. Francis (titled "Showman's Patter") about books and other items held in the Osler Library.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Arrangement

Arrangement is largely alphabetical by correspondent. Description of items taken from file folder labels. Brief index available (subjects): W.W.Francis Correspondence 1929-1959 Index.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Language and script note

The documents are in English.

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Items can be requested for consultation online via the Library Catalogue or by email at osler.library@mcgill.ca. Advance notice is recommended.

Finding aids

Associated materials

Related materials

Accruals

Alternative identifier(s)

Osler Database ID

4672

Osler Fonds ID

149

Standard number area

Standard number

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Genre access points

Control area

Description record identifier

Institution identifier

Rules or conventions

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Language of description

Script of description

Sources

Accession area