MSS 2/0145-02 Acc. 1990-140
OSLER, SIR WILLIAM
1849-1919
Letters,
1885-1919
1. Osler, W[illia]m.
Autograph letter signed : [Llanddulas, England?], to
[A.C.?] Abbott, [n.p.],
[1911 Sept.] 3 (1 item)
Gift of Samuel and Katharine R. Sturgis, October 1979.
2. O[sler], W[illiam].
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[A.C.?] Abbott, [n.p.],
1912 Dec. 18 (1 item)
3. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[A.C.?] Abbott, [n.p.],
1913 Sept. 18 (1 item)
4. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[A.C.?] Abbott, [n.p.],
1915 June 3 (1 item)
Gift of Samuel and Katharine R. Sturgis, October 1979.
5. Osler, W[illia]m.
Autograph letter signed : Baltimore, [Md.], to
[John] Ashhurst, [n.p.],
1894 Feb. 21 (1 item)
6. Osler, W[illia]m.
Autograph letter signed : Baltimore, [Md.], to
Mrs. Ashhurst, [n.p.],
[between 1892 and 1905] Oct. 6 (1 item)
7. Osler, W[illia]m.
Autograph letter signed : [n.p.], to
Mrs. Ashhurst, [n.p.],
[n.d.] (1 item)
8. Osler, W[illia]m.
Autograph letter signed : [Philadelphia, Pa.], to
[College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa.],
[1885] Jan. 9 (1 item)
9. [College of Physicians of Philadelphia].
Typescript letter signed : Philadelphia, [Pa.], to
Sir William Osler, Oxford, England,
1916 Dec. 22 (1 item)
10. Osler, William.
Autograph letter signed [mimeograph] : Oxford, [England],
to [John Welsh] Croskey, Philadelphia, Pa.,
1918 Dec. 26 (1 item)
Published in Harvey Cushing's The Life of Sir
William Osler (Oxford University Press, 1940), p. 290.
11. Flint, J. M.
Autograph letter signed : Woods Hole, Mass., to
W[illia]m Osler, [n.p.],
1887 June 30 (1 item)
12. Osler, W[illiam].
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
Francine [?], [n.p.],
1908 Mar. 28 (1 item)
13. O[sler], W[illiam].
Typed letter signed [photocopy] : Oxford, [England], to
[Thomas B.] Futcher, [n.p.],
1919 Oct. 28 (1 item)
Original owned by Palmer Futcher; photocopy made with his
permission, 18 June 1982.
14. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
Mrs. Gossage, [n.p.],
1911 May 8 (1 item)
Gift of Samuel and Katharine R. Sturgis, October 1979.
15. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[D. Fraser] Harris, [n.p.],
1911 Apr. 18 (1 item)
Gift of Fred B. Rogers.
16. Osler, W[illiam].
Typed letter signed : Baltimore, [Md.], to
[Guy] Hinsdale, [n.p.],
1897 Mar. 5 (1 item)
R17. Osler, W[illiam].
Autograph letter signed [photocopy] : [Baltimore, Md.],
to
[Guy] Hinsdale, [n.p.],
[1904?] (1 item)
18. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed [photocopy] : Oxford, [England], to
[Guy] Hinsdale, [n.p.],
1910 Feb. 3 (1 item)
19. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[Guy] Hinsdale, [n.p.],
1910 Sept. 29 (1 item)
20. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed [photocopy] : Oxford, [England], to
[Guy] Hinsdale, [n.p.],
1911 Jan. 6 (1 item)
21. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[Guy] Hinsdale, [n.p.],
1914 Oct. 31 (1 item)
22. [Osler, William].
Autograph postcard [fragment] : St. Brelade's [Bay], Jersey, [England],
to Guy Hin[sdale], Kennebunkport, Me.,
[ca. 1919 Aug. 29] (1 item)
23. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[W. H.] Jeffreys [sic], [n.p.],
1910 Sept. 21 (1 item)
Gift of W. H. Jefferys, 4 February 1932.
24. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[W. H.] Jeffreys [sic], [n.p.],
1910 Oct. 13 (1 item)
Gift of W. H. Jefferys, 4 February 1932.
25. Osler, W[illia]m.
Autograph letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[W. H.] Jefferys, [n.p.],
[1910?] (1 item)
Gift of W. H. Jefferys, 4 February 1932.
26. Osler, W[illiam].
Autograph letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[William W.] Keen, [n.p.],
[1908?] July 18 (1 item)
27. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[E. B.] Krumbhaar, [n.p.],
1915 Feb. 1 (1 item)
Gift of E. B. Krumbhaar, 29 May 1923.
28. Lang, C.
Bill charging Osler for his purchase of
Reynmann's "Leonh. Wetterbiechlin" with page
from catalogue [in German]
1914 Apr. 29 (2 items)
29. Lang, C.
Typed letter signed : Rome, [Italy], to
William Osler, Oxford, [England],
1914 Nov. 25
With Engstrom, Otto.
Autograph letter signed [in German] : Helsingfors,
[Finland?], to C. Lang, [n.p.],
1914 July 18 (2 items)
30. Lang, C.
Autograph letter signed : Rome, [Italy], to
William Osler, Oxford, [England],
1914 Nov. 4
With receipt for Rosslin's "Der Swangern",
loaned to Osler on approval (1914 Nov. 4) (2 items)
31. Magnin, [?].
Card introducing [Guy] Hinsdale of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
[n.d.] (1 item)
32. Osler, W[illiam].
Typed letter signed : Baltimore, [Md.], to
[?] Marvel, [n.p.],
1904 Oct. 14 (1 item)
Gift of Richard Foster and Russell Maulitz, 1982.
33. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[S. Weir] Mitchell, [n.p.],
[1911?] Dec. 12 (1 item)
34. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[S. Weir] Mitchell, [n.p.],
1912 Mar. 16 (1 item)
35. Osler, W[illiam].
Typed letter signed : Baltimore, Md., to
[George W.] Norris, [n.p.],
1904 Nov. 22 (1 item)
Published in Harvey Cushing's The Life of Sir
William Osler (Oxford University Press, 1940), p. 660.
36. Osler, W[illiam].
Typed letter signed : Baltimore, [Md.], to
[Francis R.] Packard, [n.p.],
1906 Jan. 6 (1 item)
37. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Baltimore, [Md.], to
[William] Pepper, [n.p.],
1897 Jan. 13 (1 item)
Received by the College of Physicians in April 1948.
38. Osler, W[illiam].
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
Will[iam Pepper], [n.p.],
1908 Jan. 24 (1 item)
Received by the College of Physicians in April 1948.
39. O[sler], W[illiam].
Autograph postcard signed : Paris, [France], to
William Pepper, Philadelphia, Pa.,
[1908 Feb?] 16 (1 item)
Received by the College of Physicians in April 1948.
40. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
Will[iam Pepper], [n.p.],
[1908?] Sept. 30 (1 item)
Received by the College of Physicians in April 1948.
H41. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
Will[iam Pepper], [n.p.],
1915 Feb. 1 (1 item)
Received by the College of Physicians in April 1948.
42. Osler, W[illia]m.
Autograph letter signed : [Philadelphia, Pa.], to
[John Bingham?] Roberts, [n.p.],
[between 1884 and 1887] (1 item)
43. Osler, W[illia]m.
Autograph letter signed : [Philadelphia, Pa.], to
[John Bingham?] Roberts, [n.p.],
[1888] Mar. 10 (1 item)
44. Osler, W[illia]m.
Autograph letter signed : [Philadelphia, Pa.], to
[John Bingham?] Roberts, [n.p.],
1888 Oct. 10 (1 item)
45. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[John Bingham?] Roberts, [n.p.],
1913 Mar. 1 (1 item)
46. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Baltimore, [Md.], to
[?] Shober, [n.p.],
1894 Dec. 1 (1 item)
47. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Baltimore, [Md.], to
[James E.?] Talley, [n.p.],
1896 June 27 (1 item)
Gift of James E. Talley, 10 May 1940.
48. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Oxford, [England], to
[James E. Talley?], [n.p.],
1917 Oct. 25 (1 item)
Gift of James E. Talley, 10 May 1940.
49. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Baltimore, [Md.], to
[James?] Tyson, [n.p.],
1896 Sept. 8 (1 item)
Gift of William A. Jeffers, 11 November 1949.
b50. Osler, W[illia]m.
Typed letter signed : Baltimore, Md., to
[James J.] Walsh, [New York, N.Y.],
1904 Nov. 8 (1 item)
Includes autograph note from James J. Walsh
to his brother, Joseph Walsh of Philadelphia.
51. Osler, W[illia]m.
Autograph letter signed : S.S. "Cedric", to
[J. C.] Wilson, [n.p.],
[1904] Aug. 10 (1 item)
Gift of J. C. Wilson, 9 May 1920.
52. Wood, H[oratio] C.
Typed letter signed [typescript copy] : Philadelphia, Pa.,
to [William] Osler, [n.p.],
1917 Jan. 26 (1 item)
The original of this letter was inserted in the
back of Osler's copy of George B. Wood's First
and Last (Philadelphia, 1864).
53. Wood, H[oratio] C.
Typed letter signed [typescript copy] : Philadelphia, Pa.,
to [William] Osler, [n.p.],
1917 Mar. 10 (1 item)
The original of this letter was inserted in the
back of Osler's copy of George B. Wood's First
and Last (Philadelphia, 1864).
Published in Harvey Cushing's The Life of Sir
William Osler (Oxford University Press, 1940), p. 1247.
54. Osler, W[illia]m.
Autograph letter signed [photocopy] : Baltimore, [Md.],
to Doctor [?], [n.p.],
1890 Aug. 31 (1 item)
Gift of George Weber, February 1974.
55. Osler, W[illia]m.
List of physicians' names written on Hospital
of the University of Pennsylvania letterhead
[188-] (1 item)
1885-1919 8/24/1992
1 box (58 items) wvg
MSS 2/0145-02 Acc. 1990-140
OSLER, SIR WILLIAM
1849-1919
Letters,
1885-1919
Biographical
Sir William Osler, physician, clinician, and teacher, was born
in Bond Head, Ontario, on 12 July 1849. In 1892, he married
Grace Revere Gross, the widow of physician S. W. Gross. They
had one son, Edward Revere (d. 1917). Osler died in Oxford,
England, of pleurisy, empyema, and pneumonia following bronchitis,
on 29 December 1919.
Osler received a B.A. from Trinity College in Toronto in 1868,
then an M.D. from McGill University in 1872. From 1874 to 1884,
he was Professor of the Institutes of Medicine at McGill. From
1884 to 1889, he taught clinical medicine at the University
of Pennsylvania and had the oversight of two wards in the Hospital
of the University of Pennsylvania. He was also on the medical
staff of Philadelphia Hospital, 1885-1889, and an Attending
Physician at the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Hospital, 1887-1889.
From 1889 to 1904, Osler was Professor of Medicine at Johns
Hopkins University where he helped to organize the medical school
and promoted clinical instruction. In 1904, he was appointed
Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University and held this post
until his death.
Osler wrote many articles and monographs, including The Principles
and Practice of Medicine (1892). He became a baronet in 1911,
was a member of the Royal College of Physicians and a fellow
of the Royal Society, and became a fellow of the College of
Physicians of Philadelphia in 1885.
Scope and contents
This collection consists of letters, 1885 to 1919, written by
Sir William Osler. The time span covered by the collection
includes Osler's years in Philadelphia (18841889), at Johns
Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland (1889-1904), and as
Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford, England (1905-1919).
Recipients of Osler's letters include Thomas B. Futcher (1871-1938),
Guy Hinsdale (1858-1948), W. H. Jefferys (1871-1945), William
W. Keen (1837-1932), E. B. Krumbhaar (1882-1966), S. Weir Mitchell
(1829-1914), and William Pepper (1874-1947). Also present are
letters to Osler from Horatio C. Wood (1874-1958).
In a few of his letters, Osler discusses patients and their case
histories, but most of the correspondence is personaljin
nature. In many letters, Osler comments on his colleagues'
latest publications or lectures.
Some of the correspondence in the collection pertains to Osler's
participation in the College of Physicians of Philadelphia;
in a letter of 9 January 1885, Osler submits the first installment
of his fellowship dues. Also present is a resolution (22 December
1916) signed by thirty four members of the College of Physicians
to convey their regrets at Osler's absence from their latest
meeting. In his letter to John Ashhurst (21 February 1894),
Osler donates money for the W. S. W. Ruschenberger portrait,
and in his letter to William W. Keen (18 July 1908?), Osler
mentions the construction of the new College building.
Other letters in the collection document Osler's passion for collecting
rare medical books and manuscripts. In his letters to S. Weir
Mitchell (12 December 1911? and 16 March 1912), Osler discusses
his most recent acquisitions; he also comments on the William
Harvey manuscripts. In his 1911 letter to Mitchell, Osler mentions
his acceptance of the Siliman Lectureship at Yale. Many of
the letters in the collection inform the recipients of Osler's
latest travels and appointments. In his letter to (John Bingham?) Roberts,
Osler announces his decision to accept a position at Johns Hopkins;
in a letter to J. C. Wilson, Osler explains that he has been
awarded the Regius Professorship of Medicine at Oxford.
Of special interest in the collection are two letters sent to
Osler by Horatio C. Wood. In these letters, Wood discusses
a book of poetry, First and Last (Philadelphia, 1864), written
by his father, George B. Wood. Osler apparently was interested
in obtaining a copy of this rare work. Wood also discusses
some of the recent events of World War I. Also of interest
is Osler's letter to Thomas B. Futcher (28 October 1919); in
the letter, Osler discusses his latest travels in Jersey and
Glasgow and reports on his recent illnesses. Osler died two
months later.
Provenance
This collection of Sir William Osler letters were originally part
of the Autograph Collection of the College of Physicians of
Philadelphia.
The collection was processed and catalogued in 1992.
1885-1919
1 box (58 items)
8/24/1992
wvg