MSS 2/0146-06 Acc. 1992-032-01 ABBE, ROBERT, 1851-1928, collector Memoranda of Mme. M. Curie, 1898-1926 Biographical Robert Waldo Abbe, New York surgeon, was born on 13 April1851. He married Catherine Amory Palmer in 1891. Abbe died of anemia, probably related to his work with radium, on 7 March 1928. Abbe received an A.B. from the College of the City of New York in 1870 and an M.D. from the College of Physicians and surgeons in New York in 1874. He then served an internship at St. Luke's Hospital, New York. From 1877 to 1884, Abbe was Attending Surgeon in the outpatient Department of New York Hospital. He was also surgeon at St. Luke's Hospital and the Cancer Hospital and attending Surgeon at New York Babies' Hospital. Abbe held positions as Professor of Didactic Surgery at the woman's medical College of New York, 1878-1880, and Professor of surgery at the New York Post Graduate Medical School, 18881897. In 1898, he became Lecturer in Surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Robert Abbe was known for his pioneering work in intestinal anastomosis, spinal surgery, and the use of radium to treat cancer. He was a member of the American surgical association, the International Surgical Society, and the New York Surgical Society. In 1911, he became an associate fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Scope and contents This scrapbook, "Memoranda of Mme. M. Curie", contains items collected by Robert Abbe. Included in the volume are photographs of Marie Curie (ca. 1903-1920), photographs of Marie and Pierre Curie using electrometers in their laboratory, photographs and captions illustrating the production of radium (1898), clippings, and several letters(1920-1922) from Marie Curie to Robert Abbe concerning Curie's donation of an electrometer to the College of physicians of Philadelphia. In her letter of 16 July 1920, Curie sends Abbe a description of the "Quartz Piezoelectrique", or electrometer, that she and her husband used in their early experiments with radium. Curie writes Abbe again on 2 October 1920 and explains that she will donate an item to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia; she makes two suggestions and asks Abbe to choose which gift would be more appropriate. In her letter of 1 March 1921, Curie presents the electrometer to Abbe. Also included in the volume is a personal note from Curie to Abbe (23 June 1921). Also of interest in the scrapbook is a letter from one of abbe's colleagues (John Finley?); this colleague, who writes from Warsaw, Poland, sends Abbe a Polish stamp honoring Marie Curie. Provenance The "Memoranda of Mme. M. Curie" volume was donated to the college of Physicians of Philadelphia by Robert Abbe on 23 May 1921. The volume was transferred from the Mutter Museum to the Historical Collections of the Library on 4 January 1983. The volume was catalogued in 1992. 1898-1926 1 v. (35 items) 9/16/1992 wvg MSS 2/0146-06 Acc. 1992-032-01 ABBE, ROBERT, 1851-1928, collector Memoranda of Mme. M. Curie, 1898-1926 Page 5 1. Photograph of Marie Curie [n.d.] (1 item) 7 2. [Abbe, Robert], 1851-1928. "Marie Curie, and Radium" [biographical sketch, n.d.] (1 item) 17 3. Photograph of Marie Curie [n.d.] (1 item) 19 4. Photograph of Pierre Curie [n.d.] (1 item) 21 5. Ellis, H. C. Photograph [copy] of Pierre and Marie Curie with their daughter, Irene, in the garden of their home near Paris [1903] (1 item) 23 6. Photograph of Marie Curie in her laboratory [1903] (1 item) 25 7. Petit, Pierre. Photograph [copy] of Henri Becquerel (1852-1908), Professor of Physics at the University of Paris (as a student, Marie Curie worked in his laboratory) [n.d.] (1 item) 27 8. Photograph of the street in Paris where the Curie laboratory is located [n.d.] (1 item) 29 9. Postcard with view of Joachimsthal, the town in Bohemia, Austria, where Marie Curie first found radium [n.d.] (1 item) Page 31 10. "Radium Making 1898" Photographs and captions illustrating how radium was made [1898] (6 items) 43 11. Photograph of Pierre Curie using his "appareil appele quartz piezo electrique" (electrometer) [n.d.] (1 item) 45 12. Photograph of [Jacques?] Danne, Professor Curie's assistant, using an electrometer [n.d.] (1 item) 47 13. Photograph of Marie Curie in her laboratory [1920] (1 item) 49 14. Photograph of Marie Curie [1920] (1 item) 52 15. Curie, M[arie], 1867-1934. Typed letter signed [in French] : Paris, [France], to [Robert] Abbe, New York, [N.Y.], 1920 Oct. 2 With envelope (1 item) 55 16. Translation of Marie Curie's letter of 2 October 1920 [n.d.] (1 item) 56 17. Photograph of the electrometer that Marie Curie donated to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia [n.d.] (1 item) 57 18. [Curie, Marie], 1867-1934. "Quartz Piezoelectrique" Her description [in French] of the electrometer [n.d.] (1 item) 61 19. Curie, M[arie], 1867-1934. Typed letter signed : Paris, [France], to Robert Abbe, New York, [N.Y.], 1920 July 16 With envelope and with her description [in French] of the electrometer (1 item) 63 20. Curie, M[arie], 1867-1934. Typed letter signed [in French] : Paris, [France], to [Robert Abbe, n.p.], 1921 Mar. 10 (1 item) 65 21. Clipping (from the New York Times Book Review) of a photograph of the Curie laboratory 1924 Jan. 6 (1 item) 66 22. Clipping (from the New York Times) of a photograph of Marie Curie 1925 July 12 (1 item) 67 23. Clipping (from the New York Times) of a photograph of Marie Curie with Charles H. Mayo (1865-1939) 1925 July 12 (1 item) 69 24. Curie, M[arie], 1867-1934. Autograph postcard signed [in French] : Paris, [France], to Robert Abbe, [n.p.], 1921 Mar. 1 (1 item) 69 25. Curie, M[arie], 1867-1934. Autograph postcard signed : Paris, [France], to Robert Abbe, [n.p.], 1921 Mar. 1 (1 item) 71 26. Curie, M[arie], 1867-1934. Autograph postcard signed : New York, [N.Y.], to Robert Abbe, New York, [N.Y.], 1921 June 23 With envelope (1 item) 73 27. Curie, M[arie], 1867-1934. Typed letter signed : Paris, [France], to [Robert Abbe, n.p.], 1922 Apr. 8 (1 item) 75 28. [John Finley?] Autograph letter signed : Warsaw, Poland, to Robert Abbe, [n.p.], 1926 May 20 With Marie Curie postage stamp (1 item) 77 29. Photograph of Marie Curie using an electrometer in her laboratory [n.d.] (1 item) 79 30. Clipping [in French] celebrating the 25th[?] anniversary of the discovery of radium [1923?] (1 item) 1898-1926 1 v. (35 items) 9/16/1992 wvg