Lot Essay
INDENT The dies for this impressive Gold Medal were first employed for the Prussian Medal for Arts and Sciences in 1814. This is the only recorded example of the medal being awarded as a "Verdienst-Orden", and from the inscription on the rim the medal was clearly specially bestowed upon Dr. Granville as a mark of royal favour by King Freidrich Wilhelm himself
Augustus Bozzi Granville, M.R.C.P., M.R.C.S., F.R.S., V.P.G.S., M.R.I., late Surgeon Royal Navy (1783-1872), one of the most highly respected physicians of the last century; born in Milan, the son of Carlo Bozzi, Post-Master-General; entered Pavia University 1799 and received diploma of Doctor of Medicine 1802.
Naval Surgeon and Italian Patriot
An outspoken Republican, Granville was imprisoned by the authorities for giving public addresses and writing lampoons; to avoid French conscription he left Italy of Corfu, 1803, made the aquaintance of William Hamilton, private secretary to Lord Elgin at Constantinople, and travelled with him in Greece; at Constantinople became Second Physician to the Turkish Fleet, cruising among the Greek Islands and visiting Jerusalem; arrived in Spain later the same year and practiced medicine in Madrid, taking the name Granville in honour of his Cornish grand-father; arrived at Lisbon 1806, and appointed Assistant-Surgeon H.M.S. Raven; served in H.M.S. Millbrook, Elizabeth and Cordelia, and finally was appointed to H.M.S. Arachne on the West Indian Station; met General Bolivar in Antigua 1811, and was comissioned to deliver his despatches to the British government; during 1812 served in H.M.S. Maidstone, present during the actions at Quiberon Bay and the bombardment of Cadiz, and in H.M.S. Swiftsure; settled in London on half-pay 1813, and became M.R.C.S.; during this time translated many Peninsular bulletins for distribution in Italy and continued to work for Italian independence; accompanied Hamilton to the Congress of Paris 1814 acting as interpreter for the Foreign Office, and journeyed to Milan with despatches; was arrested in Lombardy by the Austrian authorities and detained as a spy; returned to London with the warning that Napoleon was planning to escape from Elba, a warning which the British government ignored; in early 1815 introduced to the Duke of Somerset a deputation from the Provisional Government at Milan offering him the Italian crown; later the same year assisted Canova in his mission to Paris to secure the restoration of Italian art treasures; settled in Paris 1816-17 in order to qualify himself as an accoucheur; elected F.R.S. and became L.R.C.P. in 1817, and the next year opened a practice in Savile Row and appointed Physician Accoucheur to the Westminster General Dispensary.
Physician and Author
Granville's medical career now flourished; gave evidence to Parliamentary Committees; edited the 'Medical Intelligencer' and the 'London Medical and Physical Journal'; established a West End Infirmary for sick children; was candidate for the Professorship of Midwifery at London University 1826-27; elected President of the Westminster Medical Society 1829; vice-President of the British Medical Association; Secretary of the Visitors of the Royal Institution 1832-52; secured reforms to the constitution of the Royal Society; was befriended and supported by many notable figures including Sir Humphrey Davy, Sir Joseph Banks, and Lord Palmerston, the latter being also one of his patients; Granville was also a prolific writer, and the list of his publications fills two and a half columns of the British Museum catalogue; many proved immensley popular, his 'Catechism of Health' published in 1831, ran into four editions in the first year; perhaps his best known works were the detailed accounts of Health Spas, "The Spas of Germany" published 1837 and "The Spas of England and Sea-bathing Places" published 1841
A Cosmopolitan Career
Granville's medical practice was not confined to London; journeyed to St. Petersburg with the Count and Countess Woronzow 1827; published 'Report of a journey through Central Europe for Agricultural Enquiries' 1836; was the confidential friend of the ex-king Joseph Bonaparte and was present at some historic interviews between him and his nephew Louis afterwards Emperor Louis Napoleon; accompanied Joseph to Wildbad, summer 1840; visited St. Petersburg again in 1849 and wrote a remarkable letter to Palmerston on the physical and mental constitution of the Emperor Nicholas I, predicting his death before July 1855; travelled extensively in Germany, visiting every major health Spa in the country in order to gather information for his comprehensive guide to German watering places, "The Spas of Germany" 1837, and paid a professional visit to the Spa at Kissingen every year from 1840 to 1863; Doctor Granville retired in 1864 and died at Dover in March 1872 aged 88 years
Augustus Bozzi Granville, M.R.C.P., M.R.C.S., F.R.S., V.P.G.S., M.R.I., late Surgeon Royal Navy (1783-1872), one of the most highly respected physicians of the last century; born in Milan, the son of Carlo Bozzi, Post-Master-General; entered Pavia University 1799 and received diploma of Doctor of Medicine 1802.
Naval Surgeon and Italian Patriot
An outspoken Republican, Granville was imprisoned by the authorities for giving public addresses and writing lampoons; to avoid French conscription he left Italy of Corfu, 1803, made the aquaintance of William Hamilton, private secretary to Lord Elgin at Constantinople, and travelled with him in Greece; at Constantinople became Second Physician to the Turkish Fleet, cruising among the Greek Islands and visiting Jerusalem; arrived in Spain later the same year and practiced medicine in Madrid, taking the name Granville in honour of his Cornish grand-father; arrived at Lisbon 1806, and appointed Assistant-Surgeon H.M.S. Raven; served in H.M.S. Millbrook, Elizabeth and Cordelia, and finally was appointed to H.M.S. Arachne on the West Indian Station; met General Bolivar in Antigua 1811, and was comissioned to deliver his despatches to the British government; during 1812 served in H.M.S. Maidstone, present during the actions at Quiberon Bay and the bombardment of Cadiz, and in H.M.S. Swiftsure; settled in London on half-pay 1813, and became M.R.C.S.; during this time translated many Peninsular bulletins for distribution in Italy and continued to work for Italian independence; accompanied Hamilton to the Congress of Paris 1814 acting as interpreter for the Foreign Office, and journeyed to Milan with despatches; was arrested in Lombardy by the Austrian authorities and detained as a spy; returned to London with the warning that Napoleon was planning to escape from Elba, a warning which the British government ignored; in early 1815 introduced to the Duke of Somerset a deputation from the Provisional Government at Milan offering him the Italian crown; later the same year assisted Canova in his mission to Paris to secure the restoration of Italian art treasures; settled in Paris 1816-17 in order to qualify himself as an accoucheur; elected F.R.S. and became L.R.C.P. in 1817, and the next year opened a practice in Savile Row and appointed Physician Accoucheur to the Westminster General Dispensary.
Physician and Author
Granville's medical career now flourished; gave evidence to Parliamentary Committees; edited the 'Medical Intelligencer' and the 'London Medical and Physical Journal'; established a West End Infirmary for sick children; was candidate for the Professorship of Midwifery at London University 1826-27; elected President of the Westminster Medical Society 1829; vice-President of the British Medical Association; Secretary of the Visitors of the Royal Institution 1832-52; secured reforms to the constitution of the Royal Society; was befriended and supported by many notable figures including Sir Humphrey Davy, Sir Joseph Banks, and Lord Palmerston, the latter being also one of his patients; Granville was also a prolific writer, and the list of his publications fills two and a half columns of the British Museum catalogue; many proved immensley popular, his 'Catechism of Health' published in 1831, ran into four editions in the first year; perhaps his best known works were the detailed accounts of Health Spas, "The Spas of Germany" published 1837 and "The Spas of England and Sea-bathing Places" published 1841
A Cosmopolitan Career
Granville's medical practice was not confined to London; journeyed to St. Petersburg with the Count and Countess Woronzow 1827; published 'Report of a journey through Central Europe for Agricultural Enquiries' 1836; was the confidential friend of the ex-king Joseph Bonaparte and was present at some historic interviews between him and his nephew Louis afterwards Emperor Louis Napoleon; accompanied Joseph to Wildbad, summer 1840; visited St. Petersburg again in 1849 and wrote a remarkable letter to Palmerston on the physical and mental constitution of the Emperor Nicholas I, predicting his death before July 1855; travelled extensively in Germany, visiting every major health Spa in the country in order to gather information for his comprehensive guide to German watering places, "The Spas of Germany" 1837, and paid a professional visit to the Spa at Kissingen every year from 1840 to 1863; Doctor Granville retired in 1864 and died at Dover in March 1872 aged 88 years