Author: Alexander Monro

Publisher:

Published: 1791

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

Six volumes of bound notes (.6 linear feet) believed to be in the hand of Philip Syng Physick, taken at a course of lectures, numbered 1 to 125, given by Alexander Monro (1733-1817), at the University of Edinburgh, on anatomy, physiology, and surgery. Vol. 1 has the inscription: P.S. Physick's, in block letters, on the inside upper cover. If indeed in Physick's hand, the notes would date from the period when Physick studied at Edinburgh for a one-year course, completing his medical degree there in 1792. The manuscripts have no title pages. Verification of the lecturer's identity is found in the fact that he twice mentions having worked with a Dr. Meikle in Berlin in 1757 (Lectures 3 and 105); the references are evidently to Johann Friedrich Meckel, with whom Monro worked and at whose home he resided during his stay in Berlin in 1757. The latest date that could be found in the manuscripts was 1783 (Lecture 106, f. 15). The division of the lectures into volumes is as follows: vol. 1, Lectures 1-23; vol. 2, Lectures 24-46; vol. 3, Lectures 47-70; vol. 4, Lectures 71-92; vol. 5, Lectures 95-108; vol. 6, Lectures 110-125. There are occasional gaps in the sequence of lecture numbers, with numbers 93, 94, 107, and 109 skipped; in the earlier volumes, entries for lectures occasionally consist only of a brief notation to the effect that there was a practical demonstration (e.g. Lectures 56, 57, 62, 63). Lecture 125 concludes with the lecturer's parting words to the students and the transcriber's notation: Finis. The manuscripts are all neatly written and convey the lectures in full narrative style. The first four volumes have a particularly consistent appearance, with about 22 lines per page, written on only the rectos of leaves, and steady use of catchwords from Lecture 6 on; vols. 2 to 4 each end with a pen flourish. In vols. 5 and 6 there are generally more lines per page, and catchwords are almost never used. In vol. 5 in particular the appearance seems more varied, raising a question as to whether another hand could be in play (e.g. Lecture 104); the notes for Lectures 95 to 101, in contrast to practice elsewhere, are paginated (1 to 125), and sometimes written on both the recto and verso of leaves. The eight volumes are uniformly bound in half leather over marbled boards (early 19th century?); the spines are labeled with the title: Monro's Lectures, and the respective volume number, in gilt on a black background.