"Lectures by a Lady-Doctor". In: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature Science and Arts. Conducted by William and Robert Chambers, Vol. XI (New Series), nos. 261-286, January-June 1859, pp. 255-256. Entire volume offered.

[BLACKWELL, Elizabeth]

Verlag: London: W. & E. Chambers, 47 Paternoster Row and High Street Edinburgh, 1859.

vii, 416 pp. Original cloth. Covers lightly spotted. Corners of covers bent and worn. Very Good. First Edition. The only published account of these lectures. In her autobiography, Elizabeth Blackwell writes about her preparation for these lectures: "Paris: November, 1858. Preparing my lectures is a troublesome business. My first one would not do; it was so much more adapted to an American than an English audience. I wanted also quantities of facts that I did not know how to get. But I have now re-written twenty-one pages. I have written it with pleasure, though very slowly, and I am really surprised to find how very slowly I write. I can only write when I feel fresh in the morning; sometimes only a page, sometimes none. I will not force it when I don't feel fresh, but I shall take whatever time is necessary to do the work well, for it is really important. . . . Letter To Lady Byron Paris: December 30, 1858. 160 Rue St. Dominique. . . . I have heard with great pleasure of an invitation to lecture in London, which I will acknowledge when I receive it. I shall be glad of an opportunity of laying very important considerations before my fellow country-women, but I cannot lecture just at present. I find that I must first go to Italy, for reasons which I will explain when we meet; therefore it is too soon to engage rooms at present, for which kind offer I sincerely thank you" (Elizabeth Blackwell, Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women, pp. 216-217). Blackwell's lectures were not published, but drafts survive in manuscript. The drafts are quoted at some length in Janice Nimura's biography of Elizabeth Blackwell (pp. 215-216). Nimura writes, citing the published account of the lectures in Chambers's Journal that is offered here: "Their frank content alarmed even her closest friends. Bessie Parkes thought the ladies would recoil with a 'shriek of horror,' but Elizabeth was undeterred: 'I simply laugh, and disbelieve her.' On March 2, 1859, she faced her first audience--'about 150 people, of considerable influence'--and even the popular press seemed to approve. 'Now, let us for a moment imagine a person intrusted with a complicated and delicate piece of machinery,' noted the popular Chambers's Journal [offered here]. 'Imagine that person to be ignorant of the principles of the construction of that machine,' it continued--such was the plight of women expected to guard their families health in ignorance of physiology. Of course, 'in a journal of this character, we can only allude to the more purely medical portion of Dr Blackwell's discourse,' the article concluded delicately--but its sympathetic tone was clear: intimate knowledge of physical health, imparted to women by fully trained female doctors, was 'subject for much earnest thought'. One member of Elizabeth's audience responded with particular earnestness. Elizabeth Garrett . . . had read Anna's profile of the medical Blackwell sisters in the English Woman's Journal. Inspired by the thought of 'something definite & worthy to do,' Garrett attended each of the three lectures with growing interest, attention that was reciprocated once Barbara Bodichon introduced the two Elizabeths. 'Last night I saw a Miss Garrett who very much pleased me--a young lady who is quietly forming her determination to study medicine,' Elizabeth reported to Emily. 'I think she has the pluck to take it up.' Garrett was not nearly as decided as Eizabeth assumed--'I remember feeling very much confounded & as if I had been suddenly thrust into work that was too big for me,' the young woman wrote--but to her own surprise, the study of medicine suited her. Six years later, she would become the first woman in Britain to qualify as a doctor" (Janice P. Nimura, The Doctors Blackwell, p. 219). Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 17268

Bibliografische Details

Titel: "Lectures by a Lady-Doctor". In: Chambers's ...
Verlag: London: W. & E. Chambers, 47 Paternoster Row and High Street Edinburgh, 1859.
Einband: Hardcover
Zustand: Very Good
Auflage: 1st Edition