September 5-7, 2023 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/7/2023
Leather-bound diary of Dr. Usher Parsons for the year 1842. Interesting look into the life of a war hero and Federal period physician. He details daily life, calls to homes, fires, burials, the weather, what he's reading, etc. Dr. Usher Parsons (1788-1868) began his career as a naval physician at the start of the War of 1812. Being a shipboard surgeon the days of sail was a demanding, if not often bloody, profession, as Dr. Parsons learned when on one day he treated over 100 wounded patients during the Battle of Lake Erie. He spent the following day, September 10, 1813, performing amputations, the state-of-the-art treatment for mangled limbs. After the war, Parsons wrote a textbook on naval medicine, Physician for Ships Containing Medical Advice for Seamen and Other Persons at Sea, On the Treatment of Diseases, and on the Preservation of Health in Sickly Climates, and also in California (also known as, The Sailor’s Physician). He was an influential member of society in his day, and his notes and works are held in numerous historic collections and institutions. CONDTION: Pages loose but all seem present in front and back wraps with 3/4 of leather on present. Pages are clean and free of stains and very legible.