Reverend James B. Dunn ’s Memorial Sermon for Sir James Y. Simpson: A Quarter for the Eulogy?

The professor of midwifery at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, Sir James Young Simpson (1811 to 1870) passed away at 58 yr of age. His family was immediately extended the honor of his burial at Westminster Abbey, but they graciously declined. The day of Simpson ’s funeral was declared a memorial holiday in Scotland. More than 100,000 grateful citizens and visitors lined the streets of Edinburgh to witness Simpson’s funeral procession and to pay respect to the man who had introduced chloroform anesthesia. In memory of Simpson, the Gynaecological Society of Boston (right) asked Reverend James B. Dunn to deliver “A Memorial Sermon…” at the First Presbyterian Church on Boston’s Beach Street, in June of 1870. By September of that year, print versions of Dunn’s eulogy for Simpson were selling for a quarter of a dollar. In 2019 the Wood Library-Museum acquired its copy (left) for 180 times that price. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
Source: Anesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research