[Sir Astley Cooper, eminent surgeon and anatomist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Astley Cooper') to [William Binley] Dickenson, surgeon, enquiring if Macclesfield Infirmary has 'seen any remarkable cases of Depression of ye Skull'.

Author: 
Sir Astley Cooper [Sir Astley Paston Cooper] (1768-1841), eminent surgeon and anatomist, Sarjeant Surgeon to George IV [William Binley Dickinson (1789-1870) of Macclesfield, surgeon]
Publication details: 
39 Conduit Street, London. 15 August 1833.
£400.00
SKU: 21559

Regarding the recipient of this letter see Dorothy Bentley Smith, 'No Ordinary Surgeon: The Life and Times of William Binley Dickinson' (2017). 1p, 4to. On bifolium. In good condition, with minor loss to edge of second leaf through breaking of seal. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with postmark, to '- Dickenson Esq | Surgeon | Macclesfield'. Cooper begins by thanking Dickenson for his 'very kind present of a Brace of Grouse received this morning – I beg yourself & Mrs Dickenson to believe that I feel grateful for your recollection of me'. He continues 'Will you answer me the following queries', and the final paragraph of six lines is entirely underlined: 'Have you or your Colleagues at your Infirmary seen any remarkable cases of Depression of ye Skull or of Loss of Substance of ye Brain in the Course of your practice & what has been ye Result'. From the distinguished autograph collection of the psychiatrist Richard Alfred Hunter (1923-1981), whose collection of 7000 works relating to psychiatry is now in Cambridge University Library. Hunter and his mother Ida Macalpine had a particular interest in the illness of King George III, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'.