Autographed Letter Signed to a fellow doctor

Charleston, VA, 1855. unbound. 1 page, 9.75 x 7.5 inches, Charleston, Virginia, October 1, 1855, to Dr. Rufus Woodward, during Bell's brief retirement, in full: "Your letter was received just as I was leaving home, and with some others accidentally overlooked until to-day, when the application of an interested party to learn where a patient could be sent when insane, to a State Hospital, reminded me of it. I need scarcely say that I shall be very willing to be referred to via connection with your...for which I wish all success. Hoping that this reply may not be too late for your purpose." Irregular left margin; natural folds but otherwise in very good condition. Provenance: The Rufus Woodward Archive: sold at Alexander Autographs, February 2007; The Richard Manzi Collection; Argosy Books.<br/> <br/> American physician and one of the most important figures in Mental Health during the early 19th century. He was one of the founders of the Association Institutions for the Insane, now the American Psychiatric Association -- the first Medical Society in the United States. During the Civil War, he was assigned a commission as a surgeon in the U.S. Army, 11th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers. He took part in the Battle of Bull Run but became ill and died several months later, on February 11, 1862. His papers are housed in the University of New Hampshire Library.<br/> <br/>