Details
KILPATRICK, James [afterwards KIRKPATRICK] (d.1770). An essay on inoculation, occasioned by the Small-Pox being brought into South-Carolina in the year 1738...with an Appendix, containing a faithful account of its event there; where Eight only died out of above 800 inoculated. London: J. Huggonson, 1743.
8o (183 x 115 mm). Collation: 1, A-G4 H2 (1r title, A2r-A4v preface, B1r-D2r Essay on Inoculation, D3r-H2v Appendix). 31 leaves. Modern calf-backed marbled paper boards.
FIRST EDITION, containing a first-hand account of the successful use of inoculation in the 1738 epidemic in the South Carolina colony. Kilpatrick (later Kirkpatrick), was a strong advocate of inoculation, on which he published several pamphlets; he practiced during the 1738 South Carolina epidemic, and reported that of the more than 800 he treated, only 8 died. He "returned to England where his prominence and experience helped to revive the practice ... He devised the 'arm to arm' method of attenuation, in which the smallpox virus was passed between several subjects." At the beginning of the Appendix, Kirkpatrick refers to his Essay as having been "first printed in South Carolina," possibly referring to a newspaper publication as no such separate imprint can now be traced. The Appendix gives valuable anecdotal accounts of the treatment of various South Carolinians (who are named), including African-American slaves. Garrison & Morton 5416; Not in Sabin; Simmons, British Imprints Relating to America 1621-1760, 1743#20 (locating the BL and three US copies, giving erroneous Sabin citation). VERY RARE: no copy has appeared at auction (under either form of the author's name) since at least 1960.
8o (183 x 115 mm). Collation: 1, A-G4 H2 (1r title, A2r-A4v preface, B1r-D2r Essay on Inoculation, D3r-H2v Appendix). 31 leaves. Modern calf-backed marbled paper boards.
FIRST EDITION, containing a first-hand account of the successful use of inoculation in the 1738 epidemic in the South Carolina colony. Kilpatrick (later Kirkpatrick), was a strong advocate of inoculation, on which he published several pamphlets; he practiced during the 1738 South Carolina epidemic, and reported that of the more than 800 he treated, only 8 died. He "returned to England where his prominence and experience helped to revive the practice ... He devised the 'arm to arm' method of attenuation, in which the smallpox virus was passed between several subjects." At the beginning of the Appendix, Kirkpatrick refers to his Essay as having been "first printed in South Carolina," possibly referring to a newspaper publication as no such separate imprint can now be traced. The Appendix gives valuable anecdotal accounts of the treatment of various South Carolinians (who are named), including African-American slaves. Garrison & Morton 5416; Not in Sabin; Simmons, British Imprints Relating to America 1621-1760, 1743#20 (locating the BL and three US copies, giving erroneous Sabin citation). VERY RARE: no copy has appeared at auction (under either form of the author's name) since at least 1960.