physician and inventor of the stethoscope (1781-1826). Autograph letter signed. Paris. 4to. 3 pp. With address. Double sheet. Age toning. Minor paper loss to the right side of the letter.
$ 5,013 / 4.500 €
(91997)
To his father Théophile Laennec, lawyer in Quimper Beautiful letter to his father about his beginnings at the Society of Medicine. He has just been appointed "deputy to the society of the medical school," responsible for public education and also "for the preservation and expansion of medical sciences in France." In this capacity, she gathers "the papers, titles, and memoirs of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris, the royal society of medicine established by Louis XV in the same city, and the royal academy of surgery, so that she could continue the work that these famous bodies, destroyed by the revolution, were engaged in." Given the extent of the work, the professors have requested the appointment of several deputies among the young doctors.
Already appointed are "Mr. Larrey, chief surgeon of the army of Egypt, Husson and Moreau, sub-librarians of the school, Roux, private professor of anatomy," Bayle, Giraud, Geffroy, "and myself." This only brings "honor and a token worth two francs fifty centimes for each session attended. When I have settled a bit in society, I will send a purse to Mom to use for her Boston or Reversis games." He hopes to soon earn a little more money: "I had started working for a certain scholar who doesn't do his books alone," but it took up too much of his time. "I am determined to live as a medical student until I have finished the treatise on pathological anatomy that I am working on with Bayle" He sees some patients in town and some money is owed to him; he keeps track of the amounts that have been loaned to him and that his father has sent him […]“.
physician and inventor of the stethoscope (1781-1826). Autograph letter signed. Paris. 4to. 4 pp. Double sheet.
$ 5,013 / 4.500 €
(91998)
On his early medical writings and his love for the Breton language. He is having the complete collection of the Journal of Medicine, for which he worked for free and wrote articles under various pseudonyms like "TL - R.T.H.L. - R.T.L. - R. I sign sometimes one, sometimes the other, and sometimes I sign my full name." His finances are at their lowest, and he asks his father to send him whatever he can so that he can spend a few days in the countryside, if not able to go to Quimper. His paper "on vesicular worms is almost entirely printed, but it won't be published for a few months." He has news from Michaud [his brother] who is in Beauvais and would gladly return to Quimper if he found a position there: "His health needs care that he would find more easily in his native land and in our paternal home than in the residence of the Picardy prefect...
the successes that God has blessed my work with so far indicate clearly enough that I must pursue a career in the sciences and give up living in my homeland and among my relatives, at least for a while." He enjoys "speaking the language of these good Bas-Bretons" that he is starting to understand well (he writes a few words in Breton) and requests "the catechism - dictionary - and grammar combined by Father Maunoir, printed in 1659" and other books in Breton […]“.
physician and inventor of the stethoscope (1781-1826). Autograph letter signed. Paris. 4to. 1 p. Paper loss from opening the letter. Red wax seal on address side.
$ 4,456 / 4.000 €
(91999)
To his father Théophile Laennec, member of the prefecture council of Finistère. He thanks his father for the "Celtic mustard, which seemed to me to have a very good taste." He has no position at court and does not seek one. "The only position I aspire to is to be attached to the public teaching of medicine one day, and I cannot reasonably hope to achieve that before ten years." In the meantime, he practices medicine and asks his father for money because his patients take a long time to pay. He hopes to be considered for a position "that would attach me in a more special way than that of a member of the Society," but nothing is certain, and he asks his father not to "absolutely speak of this to anyone, to any living, speaking, and thinking being“.
physician and inventor of the stethoscope (1781-1826). Autograph letter signed. Paris. 4to. 2 pp.
$ 5,013 / 4.500 €
(88574/BN58465)
Touching letter to his father, evoking his difficulties as a young doctor. Laennec is "désolé des accidents qui vous sont arrivés et d'autant plus que je ne puis à beaucoup près réparé la brêche". He explains that he has written to his businessman to pay his father "ce qu'il a de disponible tant à moi qu'à ma soeur à qui j'en tiendrai compte par parties, si je ne puis payer le tout à la fois. C'est le seul moyen que j'aye de vous être utile en ce moment. Cette année est loin d'être meilleure que les précédentes." Regarding his income from his patients, he explains: "Je vois autant de malades que j'en puis voir.
Quelques uns me payent bien, d'autres mal, beaucoup point du tout". - After these early struggles, Laennec would have a successful career, famously inventing and pioneering the use of the stethoscope. - One small chip in margin, a few smudges and ink blots, gently creased, evidence of removed wax stamp..