Nov 17, 2016 - Sale 2432

Sale 2432 - Lot 220

Price Realized: $ 1,375
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
(MEDICINE.) Account book of important early dentist Charles H. Roberts. [125] manuscript pages. 16mo, contemporary limp calf, moderate wear; minimal wear to contents. Vp, May 1845 to April 1849

Additional Details

Charles Henry Roberts (1821-1909) was a dentist whose local nerve-killing anesthetic ushered in the era of painless dentistry, and made him a substantial fortune. He eventually settled on a 251-acre estate in Poughkeepsie, NY, which is now Franny Reese State Park, named after his daughter. This volume covers the earliest period of his career. A graduate of Albany Medical College, Roberts seems to have gone from town to town in search of patients. The entries are dated in his hometown of Moreau (Saratoga County, NY) and nearby towns along the eastern side of the upper Hudson River. Hundreds of individual customers are listed along with their amounts paid. The service provided is generally not noted, though a few patients are charged for "new set," apparently of false teeth. On 18 April 1848, one patient was charged for "full set on upper jaw." On page 8 he wrote an alloy recipe, apparently for fillings, with a note: "The above works well, 1st December 1846." At the end are a few pages of payments for supplies: gold and tin foil, "common teeth," and more. The third page from the end gives a recipe for "soperiffic vapor": " 1/4 grain morphine, 4 grs lupelin, 10g rectified sulphuric ether." The second-to-last page notes a charge for "killing nerve of teeth: 3 grs white oxide of arsenic crystalized & morphine & tanic acid . . . used with creosote." An important piece of dental history from a pioneer of his profession.