Mar 15, 2012 - Sale 2273

Sale 2273 - Lot 222

Price Realized: $ 390
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
CURE FOR CANCER? DONE. (MEDICINE.) Dr. R.H. Kline's Philadelphia Bellevue Institute and Cancer Infirmary. Illustrated broadsheet, 2 pages on one sheet, 25 1/2 x 18 inches; moderate wear, archival tape repairs, minor foxing. Philadelphia, copyright 1868, but issued no earlier than 1871
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Additional Details

R.H. Kline was either the great forgotten genius of the nineteenth century, or, more likely, a shameless quack. This broadsheet is a graphic advertisement for his cancer treatment center. It is illustrated with fifteen pairs of before-and-after engravings of cancers which have been excised and healed, as well as eight other engravings of particularly gruesome cases, and one of the infirmary grounds. All of the patients are identified with name and residence, and a summary of their afflictions and their miraculous recoveries. Kline used chemical treatments, "killing the cancer, the cancerous cell formation, and all malignant action . . . without the use of the knife, without caustic . . . and, in most cases, with but little pain." He also notes five licensed practitioners of his technique, who were then embarking on a national tour to recruit patients. Not found in WorldCat or previous auction records, and possibly unique.