Beschreibung
3 leaves, [7]-25, [1] pp, 1 leaf [addenda et corrigenda]. There is a lithographed frontispiece of a skull and crossbones, signed Pendletons Lith. (see photo). Removed from a volume. There are two old signatures on the first leaf (see photo): W. [Washington] Lazarus; __? H. Lathrop. Very Good. First Edition. First leaf has this title: Catalogus Facultatis Medicinae in Universitate Harvardiana. MDCCCXXVII. Title page: Catalogus Senatus Facultatis, eorum qui munera et official gesserunt, quique alicujus gradus laurea donate sunt in Facultate Medicinae in Universitate Harvardiana constituta, Cantabrigiæ, in Republica Massachusettensi. In 1818 a group of Harvard students formed a club, The Medical Faculty Society, or Med. Fac. for short. During its 15 year existence, the Med. Fac. issued 5 "catalogues"--in 1821, 1824, 1827, 1830, and 1833--in (pig-)Latin, purportedly of The "Facultatis Medicinae" of Harvard University. These catalogues were spoofs of the official triennial catalogues of Harvard, which listed faculty and students. The members of the club had designations such as Professor Bugologiae and Professor Multifariousness et Gout. Among the noteworthy members of the Med. Fac. was Oliver Wendell Holmes. Is it possible that Holmes's appearance in this 1827 publication is the first appearance of his name in print? Holmes's first appearance in these catalogues is in the 1827 catalogue, which is offered here, when he was a student. He reappears in the 1830 and 1833 catalogues, although he had graduated from Harvard in 1829. His name appears with a hyphen, as Oliver-Wendell Holmes, in the three catalogues in which he is mentioned. In the 1830 catalogue, "Classis poëta" is added to Holmes's positions. That is the year in which poems of his were first published. The club lasted for 15 years before Harvard abolished it. One of the activities of the club was to issue honorary degrees to eminent persons. Andrew Jackson was designated "Andreas Jackson, Armig. Major-General et ergo nunc Praesidis Rempub., foed. muneris candidates et 'Old Hickory,' M. D. et M. U. D.". Among others to receive degrees were Martin Van Buren, William Lloyd Garrison, and the Siamese twins Cheng and Heng. The story goes that a Southern gentleman upon whom one of these honorary degrees was conferred by letter was so insulted that he wrote to the genuine Faculty of Harvard to protest, after which the club was disbanded. Oliver-Wendell Holmes's appearances in the catalogue (see photos for all of them): p. 13 (under category Professores Adjuncti) Professori Bugologiae, 1827 Oliver-Wendell Holmes, M.D. adj.; p. 13 (under category Medicati Apparatus Curatores) 1827 Oliver-Wendell Holmes, M.D.; p. 16 Adjuncti include Oliver-Wendell Holmes, M.D. Bug. Prof. Adj.; p. 16 Med. App. Curat. Oliver-Wendell Holmes, M.D.; p. 25 Oliver-Wendell Holmes, M.D. [Bug. Prof. Adj. et Med. App. Curat.] Because of the similarities of the titles of these catalogues to those of the genuine Harvard catalogues, the Med. Fac. spoofs and the Harvard catalogues can be confused. The Harvard catalogues are substantial publications, whereas the Med. Fac. catalogues range from 12 to 31 pages. There are several 19th century discussions of the club. The most extensive is in Benjamin Hall, A Collection of College Words and Customs (I have consulted the second edition, 1856, pp. 312-321). Also The Harvard Magazine, Vol. X, March 1864, pp. 192-99; and "College Recollections and Stories", The Harvard Register, Vol. III, no. 2, February 1881, pp. 119-20. These catalogues are genuinely rare. OCLC locates copies of the 1827 catalogue in these US libraries: American Antiquarian Society, Boston Athenaeum, Harvard (Countway Library), Free Library of Philadelphia, State Library of Massachusetts, Miami (Ohio). This copy belonged to Washington Lazarus, with his signature on the first leaf. He can be seen in this catalogue on pp. 13 and 16 as a member of the club. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 16754
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