Description:

Jenner Edward

Edward Jenner, Inventor of Smallpox Vaccine, Apologizes for Tardiness in Visiting Sick Child

 

1p autograph letter signed in the third person by British doctor Edward Jenner (1749-1823) as "Dr. Jenner" at top. Written at his home at "Bedford Place" in London, England on "Monday Morning", sometime during 1806-1807 when the doctor resided at No. 15. On cream paper. Expected folds and wrinkles. The left margin has a few isolated chips. Mounting traces at lower left corner verso. Else near fine. 4.375" x 6.75".

 

In full, with unchanged spelling and punctuation:

 

"Dr. Jenner presents his compliments to Mrs. Ir Barbe, and begs leave to say, as she must have thought him tardy in his visit to her Infant yesterday, that he heard nothing of her message till after his return from Queen's Square.

 

Bedford Place Monday Morning".

 

Dr. Edward Jenner has been heralded as "the father of immunology" because of his discovery of the revolutionary smallpox vaccine. While variolation and inoculation were already common practices in British medicine by the 1750s, the typical procedure could be dangerous to the patient and lead to further communication of the disease to others. Jenner, a local surgeon, intended to sidestep these dangers. He hypothesized that the pus in cowpox infections contained an agent that provided immunity to smallpox.

 

Dr. Jenner tested his theory in 1796 when he successfully inoculated an 8-year-old boy named James Phipps by exposing him to pus from a dairymaid sick from cowpox. The boy later showed no reaction to variolation of smallpox, proving that the prior exposure to cowpox had protected him. Dr. Jenner published his findings in Inquiry into the Cause and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae (1798). Jenner's vaccine saved millions of lives during an age when smallpox killed approximately 10% of the British population.  In 1979, the World Health Organization announced the eradication of smallpox.

 

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

 

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