Insensibility During Surgical Operations Produced by Inhalation

Boston, 1847. 1st Edition. Original Wrappers. Very Good. FIRST EDITION, OFFPRINT, of the first announcement of the successful use of anesthesia during surgical operations, one of the greatest discoveries of nineteenth-century medicine. A visitor to Boston, Massachusetts would be well advised to take a stroll to the Ether Dome at Massachusetts General Hospital to see the amphitheater where surgery without pain began. On October 16, 1846, dentist William T.G. Morton publicly performed a painless surgery through the use of general anesthesia, thereby transforming surgical medicine, and marking one of the greatest advances in medicine, one that not only liberated patients from pain, but enabled surgeons to perform more extensive operations.

Offered here is the first edition offprint of the first announcement of Morton's seminal achievement as reported by Henry Jacob Bigelow in the November 18, 1846 issue of The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal , Vol. XXXV No. 16, pp. 309-316. Interestingly, the offprint omits the last seven paragraphs from the journal article critical of the patent-holders: Drs. Morton and Charles T. Jackson. The redacted paragraphs likely indicates the offprint was issued shortly after the journal.

Offprint from: The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. XXXV, No. 16. 8 pages. As issued, without wrappers. Paper uniformly toned. First and last leaves detached from stitching. Small closed tear in margin of last leaf, edges rough. Presented in a handsome custom box. RARE.