PILTDOWN

[Sir Henry Wade, urologist, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.] Five Typed Letters Signed: four to Waterston and one to his doctor (regarding treatment for suspected bowel cancer), with reminiscences and discussing homeopathy.

Author: 
Sir Henry Wade, urologist, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh [David Waterston (1871-1942), Bute Professor of Anatomy, University of St Andrews, debunker of Piltdown Man hoax]
Publication details: 
The five letters from 1940, and all on letterhead of 6 Manor Place Edinburgh.
£250.00

Wade donated his extensive collection of anatomical specimens to Surgeon's Hall in Edinburgh, where it is now known as the Henry Wade Collection. In 1913 Waterston had attained prominence as the first authority to discredit the Piltdown Man hoax. A total of 6pp, 8vo. The first addressed to Waterston’s doctor at St Andrews, Orr, the others to Waterston himself. None of the letters is short, and all but the second are single-spaced. The first (to Waterston’s doctor, Orr) is 2pp, the others (all four to Waterston himself) 1p. In fair condition, lightly aged and ruckled.

[John William Struthers, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.] Autograph Letter Signed and two Typed Letters Signed to Professor David Waterston of St Andrews, discussing golf and other matters in a lightly-humorous style.

Author: 
John William Struthers (1874-1953), Scottish surgeon, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh [Professor David Waterston (1871-1942) of St Andrews]
Publication details: 
The two TLsS, 20 March and 5 April 1941. The ALS, 10 August 1941. All on letterhead of Sandy-Knowe, Gullane [Scotland],
£150.00

Struthers served as a major in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Great War. He was a pioneer in the use of local anaesthetic, and wrote a well-regarded work on the topic. He was President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh from 1941 to 1943. Waterston was Bute Professor of Anatomy at the University of St Andrews from 1914 to 1942. In 1913, while Professor of Anatomy at King's College, London, he was the first authority to debunk the Piltdown Man hoax. The three items are in fair condition, lightly aged, with slight ruckling and aging. All three are folded for postage.

Eight Autograph Letters Signed from the Scottish anatomist Sir Arthur Keith to Grace Norbury, wife of Lionel Norbury, Professor of Surgery.

Author: 
Sir Arthur Keith (1866-1955), Scottish anatomist and anthropologist [Lionel Norbury (1882-1967)]
Sir Arthur Keith (1866-1955), Scottish anatomist and anthropologist
Publication details: 
Between 1948 and 1954. Six on his letterhead at Homefield, Downe, Farnborough, Kent; two on letterheads of Buckston Browne Research Farm.
£120.00
Sir Arthur Keith (1866-1955), Scottish anatomist and anthropologist

A total of twelve 12mo pages and two 4to pages. All texts clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The first letter addressed to 'Mrs Norbury', and the others to 'Grace'. After a first letter of 1948, in which he complains that he is 'becoming more & more a home dweller', the correspondence continues in 1951, with Keith thanking Mrs Norbury for a gift of sugar ('Its arrival made my housekeeper Miss Holman quite elated'), and sending Lionel Norbury encouragement on his Hunterian Oration ('My heart goes out to the Orator & to his Better Half').

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