Call no.
10a/34
Acc. 51422
(Hirsch
164)
03/23/1910
Wood, George Bacon, 1797-1879.
Dr. Chapman’s valedictory, as delivered Feby. 1818 / taken by G.B.
Wood, 1818.
1 v.
Biography
George Bacon Wood was born in Greenwich, New Jersey, on 12 March 1797; he was
the son of Richard and Elizabeth Bacon Wood. George B. Wood married Caroline
Hahn (d. 1867) on 2 April 1823. Wood died in Philadelphia on 30 March 1879.
In 1815, George B. Wood received his A.B. from the University of Pennsylvania.
He then studied medicine under Joseph Parrish and attended courses at the
University of Pennsylvania. He received his A.M. and M.D. from the University in
1818. Wood’s thesis was on dyspepsia. After his graduation, Wood lectured on
materia medica at Joseph Parrish’s Association for Medical Instruction.
George B. Wood was one of the founders of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy
in 1821. He was Professor of Chemistry at the College (1822-1831), then
Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy (1831-1835). Wood resigned from the
College in 1835, to become Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy at the
University of Pennsylvania. In 1850, he became Professor of the Theory and
Practice of Medicine at the University and held that position until his
retirement in 1860. Wood was Attending Physician at Pennsylvania Hospital
(1835-1859) and President of the Board of Managers (1874-1879). From 1850-1860,
Wood was also Chairman of the Committee on the Revision of the United States
Pharmacopoeia. In 1865, he helped to organize the Auxiliary Faculty of Medicine
at the University of Pennsylvania.
Wood wrote several books, including The Dispensatory of the United States
(1833), The History of the University of Pennsylvania (1834), A
Treatise on the Practice of Medicine (1847), and A Treatise on
Therapeutics and Pharmacology, or, Materia Medica (1856).
George B. Wood became a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in
1827 and was President from 1848 to 1879. Wood was also President of the
American Philosophical Society (1859-1879) and the American Medical Association
(1855-1856).
Nathaniel Chapman was an 1801 graduate of the Medical School of the University
of Pennsylvania, furthering his medical studies in Edinburgh before settling in
Philadelphia in 1804. Chapman is best known as a medical teacher, editor, and
professional advocate. He became editor of the Philadelphia Journal of the
Medical and Physical Sciences in 1820. From 1810 on he taught at the
University of Pennsylvania, serving as professor of materia medica and professor
of the theory and practice of medicine and clinical medicine. In 1817 Chapman
founded the Medical Institute of Philadelphia, considered the first medical
post-graduate school in the United States. The principle publications of Chapman’s
career are based on his lectures, such as his A Compendium of Lectures on the
Theory and Practice of Medicine (1846). Among his other accomplishments,
Chapman was elected the first president of the American Medical Association in
1847. Chapman was also a Fellow of the College of Physicians, elected in 1807.
Scope and Contents
One volume ([13] p.) containing Chapman’s valedictory speech to the graduating
class of 1818 of the University of Pennsylvania. Speech text appears to end at
bottom of p.11. Text on p.[13] is a repetition of the first five lines of page
[5].
Provenance
Given to the College of Physicians on 26 January 1892, by Henry Cadwalader
Chapman, M.D., grandson of Nathaniel Chapman.
1818.
1 v.
07/12/2000
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