Apr 27, 2017 - Sale 2444

Sale 2444 - Lot 230

Price Realized: $ 8,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500
(NEW YORK CITY.) Bard, Samuel. Remarks upon the Constitution, Government, Discipline & Expences of Medical Schools. [34] manuscript pages, signed on final page. Folio (12 1/2 x 8 inches), stitched with ribbon in top margin; moderate wear and foxing. With six other lectures by Bard as described below. [New York], circa 1811
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Additional Details

Samuel Bard (1741-1821) was an important early American physician; he served as family doctor to George Washington in the 1780s. In 1767, he helped found the medical school at King's College (now Columbia), the second medical program in the American colonies. Bard became dean of the Columbia medical program in 1791, and then in 1811 was appointed president of the recently formed College of Physicians and Surgeons, which would soon affiliate with Columbia.
Bard delivered this address by the request of the "Regents of the University of New York" in his capacity as president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He examines in great detail the relative expenses at various competing institutions in Edinburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore, and also makes comparisons among their curricula. He then offers his suggestions for the ideal curriculum and method of governance for the young institution. The paper is undated, but would seem to date from very early in Bard's term as president. He ushered in a supplementary charter in 1811, and a completely new charter in 1812. This paper would seem to be a key component of that process. It is also a thoughtful and detailed snapshot of the state of medical education at that time.
Offered with this lot are a collection of 5 other speeches by Bard, plus one additional partial speech, totaling 134 manuscript pages. These speeches are all untitled and undated, but all relate to medical education. Some or all of them appear to be commencement addresses, most likely for the College of Physicians and Surgeons.