The Diagnosis of Surgical Cancer. (The Liston Prize Essay for 1854).
London: John Churchill, 1855.
Slim 8vo, 77pp., 2 plates at the end, then [28] pp. ads for Churchill's "Publications in Medicine, Surgery, and Science". Original green cloth, hinges repaired at front and back, cloth dull and backstrip with some wear.
§ First edition of the author's first book; presentation copy inscribed on the title-page by the author "With the Author's best complts" and a 4pp. mostly illegible ALs from the author to Dr. Long tipped in facing the title-page. A little known but apparently quite early and important study by this ophthalmic surgeon, best known for his recognition of Laurence-Moon syndrome and his research on retinitis pigmentosa. The essay won the Liston prize for 1854. In the Journal of Ophthalmology for 1932 there is a long essay on Laurence (who died at the age of 42) entitled "A Belated Tribute" by Arnold Sorsby (pp. 727-740, with a bibliography of his writings). Laurence was a brilliant student and later ophthalmologist who founded the South London Ophthalmic Hospital (now the Royal Eye Hospital). Among many other unrecognised achievements, he was the first to describe macular degeneration. The tribute concludes: "the work that he started and did not see completed is today a living force. He has become an integral part of modern ophthalmology, as founder of an important hospital, as a pioneer in ophthalmic journalism, and as one of the forerunners of that growing school of thought which correlates ocular defect with bodily structure." Not in Garrison-Morton. Armorial bookplate of Richard Long M.D. Item #125018
Price: $2,750.00