Details
SHIPPEN, William, Jr. (1736-1806). Dissertatio anatomica-media, de placentae cum utero nexo. Edinburgh: Hamilton, Balfour and Neill, 1761.
8o (185 x 115 mm). Modern brown morocco, gilt spine. Provenance: Notes of an unidentified early owner on several pages; Faculty of Maryland Medical & Chirurgical Library (oval stamp on title and last page).
FIRST EDITION, "ONE OF THE GREAT RARITIES OF AMERICAN OBSTETRICS," constituting Shippen's doctoral thesis. He "gave the first lectures on midwifery in the United States and established the first American hospital for its teaching. His medical thesis on the connection of the placenta with the uterus is apparently his only publication; it is one of the great rarities of American obstetrics" (Norman). VERY RARE: no copy has appeared at auction since at least 1979. Norman 1940.
Shippen, from a prominent Philadelphia family, attended Princeton and apprenticed with his father, a well-known physician, before studying in London and Edinburgh, where he came into contact with William Hunter and Colin Mackenzie. Shippen's first medical lectures were given in 1762 in the Philadelphia State House, but his use of dissection "aroused the animosity of the populace, his dissecting rooms were mobbed on several occasions, and once he narrowly escaped with his life" (DAB). In 1765 he became professor of anatomy and surgery; during the Revolution he played a very significant role, serving in various capacities, ultimately as chief medical officer of the Continental Army. He later taught anatomy, surgery and midwifery at the University of Pennsylvania; Norman 1940.
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FIRST EDITION, "ONE OF THE GREAT RARITIES OF AMERICAN OBSTETRICS," constituting Shippen's doctoral thesis. He "gave the first lectures on midwifery in the United States and established the first American hospital for its teaching. His medical thesis on the connection of the placenta with the uterus is apparently his only publication; it is one of the great rarities of American obstetrics" (Norman). VERY RARE: no copy has appeared at auction since at least 1979. Norman 1940.
Shippen, from a prominent Philadelphia family, attended Princeton and apprenticed with his father, a well-known physician, before studying in London and Edinburgh, where he came into contact with William Hunter and Colin Mackenzie. Shippen's first medical lectures were given in 1762 in the Philadelphia State House, but his use of dissection "aroused the animosity of the populace, his dissecting rooms were mobbed on several occasions, and once he narrowly escaped with his life" (DAB). In 1765 he became professor of anatomy and surgery; during the Revolution he played a very significant role, serving in various capacities, ultimately as chief medical officer of the Continental Army. He later taught anatomy, surgery and midwifery at the University of Pennsylvania; Norman 1940.