Sep 28, 2017 - Sale 2455

Sale 2455 - Lot 164

Price Realized: $ 812
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
(MEDICINE.) Moore, Benjamin C. Pair of pharmacist's prescription books. 576, 577 manuscript pages. Folio, original 1/2 calf, worn and partially disbound, with Moore's printed labels on front boards; intermittent wear and soiling to contents. Champlain, NY, 1884-89

Additional Details

Benjamin C. Moore (1835-1906) was a druggist in Champlain, a town in New York's far northeastern corner, as well as the town's mayor from 1886 to 1887. These two volumes cover from December 1884 through March 1887, and September 1888 through November 1889, a span of more than 4000 numbered prescriptions. Physicians would apparently come to his shop, write out the prescription, and sign or initial their own names, giving Moore the authority to then fill the prescription. While patient names are not given, these volumes show small-town medical practices of this period. Morphine sulphate can often be seen among the prescriptions (see pages 80, 276 or the rear cover in the second volume, for example).