16th Jun, 2021 10:00

Printed Books, Maps & Decorative Prints, Autographs, Documents, The Donald & Monique King Collection

 
Lot 152 *
 

Edward Jenner (1749-1823). An important unpublished Autograph Letter Signed, 1802

Sold for £7,000


 

Edward Jenner (1749-1823). Pioneer of smallpox vaccination and the father of immunology. An important unpublished Autograph Letter Signed, 'Edw[ar]d Jenner]', Bond Street, [London], 15 April 1802, to the Yorkshire physician Dr [John Glover] Loy, about vaccination and equination, being an enthusiastic and triumphant response to a pamphlet by Dr Loy [dedicated to Jenner] proving Jenner's own early assertions about the equine origin of cowpox, '… I know of no Production on the Vaccine subject which has afforded me more satisfaction, since it was first brought before the Public, than yours. It contains the Experimentum Crucis & has effectually put a stop to the sneers of those little minded Persons who think everything impossible which does not come within the narrow sphere of their own comprehension. I regret that your confirmation of the Fact I had adduced, is not more generally known. You will be surprised to hear that this day before a Committee of the House of Commons, Dr [George] Pearson exalted at having refuted my preposterous supposition respecting the origin of the Cowpox. This circumstance alone will, I trust, induce you to send some of your pamphlets to London where they have a long time been loudly call’d for and I hope too that you will fully advertise it in the London Papers. …', concluding the letter with indirect reference to true and spurious horsepox, 3 pages with further text written horizontally at head and foot of page 4 (inside folds of address panel), some age wear to folds, small contemporary light blue-green stain to one fold intersection in lower part of letter, with very slight acidic loss to paper but barely touching letters and with no loss of sense and away from signature, indistinct circular postmark and seal remains, address and outer panels soiled, 4to, together with a half-length oval albumen print portrait of Dr Loy as an elderly man, 1850s, 9 x 7 cm, passe-partout mount within decorative oval wooden wall frame, inscribed 'Dr Loy' in an old hand to backing paper, overall 27 x 23 cm

(Quantity: 2)

From the family of Dr John Glover Loy (1774-1865) by direct descent.

An important unpublished letter concerning the work of Dr Loy which proved Jenner's view that the origins of cowpox was a disease of horses known as 'grease' (horsepox), and supported the role of horsepox in the prevention of smallpox. W.R. LeFanu, A Bio-Bibliography of Edward Jenner 1749-1823 lists only 3 letters from Loy to Jenner, 26 December 1802 and two undated letters from 1803.

See John G. Loy, An Account of Some Experiments on the Origin of Cow-Pox, Whitby, 1801. Dedicated 'To Edward Jenner, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., etc.'. 13 October 1801. [LeFanu, p. 151]

José Esparza, Livia Schrick, Clarissa R. Damaso & Andreas Nitsche, 'Equination (inoculation of horsepox): 'An early alternative to vaccination (inoculation of cowpox) and the potential role of horsepox virus in the origin of the smallpox vaccine', Vaccine, 35:52, 19 December 2017, pp. 7222-7230:

'A little-known fact is that Edward Jenner himself considered that the preventative against smallpox which is present in cowpox lesions, in fact derived from a disease of horses known as “grease” (horsepox). Early in the 19th century, European physicians conducted experiments that seemed to confirm the hypothesis that horsepox could protect against smallpox. Because of the relative rarity of cases of spontaneous cowpox, matter obtained from either cowpox or horsepox was interchangeably used in the protection against smallpox. Congruent with the use of the word vaccination, the inoculation from the horse (Lat. equus) was referred to as “equination”.' (p. 7223).

'The first independent evidence in support of a horsepox role in the prevention of smallpox was published in 1801 by John Glover Loy, a Yorkshire physician. Loy described several cases of people who became infected while treating horses suffering from grease or of individuals inoculated with horse matter that had been passaged in cows. Loy reported that the lesions produced had exactly the appearance of genuine cowpox, and in many cases the individuals were shown to be protected from variolation. A most important observation made by Loy was that “two kinds of Grease exist, differing from each other in the power of giving disease to the human or brute animal”, an observation that mirrors Jenner’s description of “true” and of “spurious” cowpox, which could explain the lack of success of some earlier investigators who attempted to equinate. The work of Loy was not in total agreement with Jenner’s original hypothesis which required that the horse matter was first modified by a passage in the cow before it could fully function as a preventative of smallpox. Nevertheless, Jenner considered that Loy’s work “decisively proves (his) early assertions” about the horse origin of vaccinia, although Jenner never again adopted the horsepox theory in his publications.

Additional confirmation of the horsepox hypothesis was provided by Luigi Sacco, an Italian physician responsible for the early introduction and widespread use of vaccination in Northern Italy. In a letter from Sacco to Jenner, dated 25 March 1803, he explains that after reading the book by John Loy, he was encouraged to continue his own experiments to try to obtain the vaccine from horses with grease.' (pp. 7224-5).

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(i) Rescind the sale of that or any other lots sold to the buyer who defaults and re-sell the lot or lots whereupon the defaulting buyer shall pay to the Auctioneer any shortfall between the proceeds of that sale after deduction of costs or re-sale and the total sum due. Any surplus shall belong to the seller.

(ii) Proceed for damages for breach of contract.

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(c) If such arrangements are not made within seven days of the notification the Auctioneer is empowered to sell the lot without reserve by auction or by private treaty and to receive from the seller the normal selling commission and special expenses.

7. Any representation or statement by the Auctioneer in any catalogue, brochure or advertisement of forthcoming sales as to authorship, attribution, genuineness, origin, date, age, provenance, condition or estimated selling price is a statement of opinion only. Every person interested should exercise and rely on his own judgement as to such matters and neither the Auctioneer nor his servants or agents are responsible for the correctness of such opinions. No warranty whatsoever is given by the Auctioneer or the seller in respect of any lot and any express or implied warranties are hereby excluded.

8. (a) Notwithstanding any other terms of these conditions, if within fourteen days of the sale the Auctioneer has received from the buyer of any lot notice in writing that in his/her view the lot is a deliberate forgery and within fourteen days after such notification the buyer returns the same to the Auctioneer in the same condition as at the time of the sale and satisfies the Auctioneer that considered in the light of the entry in the catalogue the lot is a deliberate forgery then the sale of the lot will be rescinded and the purchase price of the same refunded. "A deliberate forgery" means a lot made with intention to deceive.

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(b) The Auctioneer shall not be responsible for damage to or the loss, theft, or destruction of any goods not so insured because of the seller's written instructions whether caused by negligence or otherwise.

(c) Any liability of the Auctioneer for any claim arising from loss or damage of any kind in respect of goods whether caused by negligence or otherwise including any claims for compensation will be limited to the amount of insurance cover effected in accordance with the provisions of clause 11.a. above.

12. The Auctioneer shall remit the proceeds of the sale to the seller thirty days after the date of the auction provided that the Auctioneer has received the total sum due from the buyer. In all other cases the Auctioneer will remit the proceeds of the sale to the seller within seven days of the receipt by the Auctioneer of the total sum due. The Auctioneer will not be deemed to have received the total sum due until after any funds received from the buyer have cleared. In the event of the Auctioneer exercising his right to rescind the sale his obligation to the seller hereunder lapses.

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14. If, on collation, any named items in the catalogue prove defective, in text or illustration, the buyer may reject the lot provided he/she returns it within fourteen days stating the defect in writing. This however will not apply in the case of unnamed items, periodicals, autograph letters, manuscripts, music, maps, atlases, prints or drawings, nor in respect of damage to bindings, stains, foxing, marginal wormholes or other defects not affecting the completeness of the text, nor in respect of lack of list of plates, inserted advertisements, cancels or subsequently published volumes, supplements, appendices or plates or error in the enumerating of the plates, nor in respect of defects mentioned in the catalogue or announced at the time of sale.

15. The Auctioneer accepts no responsibility in connection with the commissioning of his staff to bid for any lots. Reserves, and commission bids given by telephone are accepted only at the sender's risk and must be confirmed in writing before the date of the sale. Lots will always be bought as cheaply as is allowed by other bids and such reserves as are on our books.

16. Buyers are advised that a storage charge of £1.00 per lot per day plus Value Added Tax at the current rate will be levied on all purchases not cleared within fourteen working days of the sale. After this period the buyer will be responsible for loss or damage.

17. Artist's Resale Rights ("Droit de Suite"). Lots marked with "AR" or another appropriate symbol and referenced as such in the catalogue are subject to the Artist's Resale Right law. The buyer agrees to pay the Auctioneer an amount equal to the resale royalty and the Auctioneer will pay such amount to the artist's collecting agent. Resale royalty applies where the Hammer Price is 1,000 Euro or more and the amount cannot be more than 12,500 Euro per lot.

The amount is calculated as follows:

Royalty For the portion of the Hammer Price (in Euro)

4.00% up to 50,000

3.00% between 50,000.01 and 200,000

1.00% between 200,000.01 and 350,000

0.50% between 350,000.01 and 500,000

0.25% in excess of 500,000

Invoices will be issued in Pounds Sterling. For the purposes of calculating the resale royalty the Pounds Sterling/Euro rate of exchange will be the European Central Bank reference rate on the day of the sale. Please refer to the DACS website www.dacs.org.uk for further details.

18. These conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law.

 

Buyer's Premium :

The buyer's premium is 20%, except those lots asterisked (*) in the title for which Value Added Tax (VAT) will be added to the premium, resulting in a buyer's premium of 24% inclusive of VAT. Eligible items include manuscripts, prints, photographs, drawings, framed maps, paintings, pens and other objects which are subject to VAT at a rate of 20% on the buyer's premium as part of the Auctioneers Margin Scheme. VAT zero-rated items such as books, unframed maps and albums are not subject to VAT on the buyer's premium.

Live Auction Charges

An additional commission of 3% plus VAT (3.6% inclusive of VAT) on the hammer price is payable if you use the live auction bidding facility on the Dominic Winter Auctioneers website (dominicwinter.co.uk). This charge will be added to your invoice automatically.

An additional commission of 4.95% plus VAT (5.94% inclusive of VAT) on the hammer price is payable if you use the live auction bidding facility on the ATG Media website (the-saleroom.com). This charge will be added to your invoice automatically.

An additional commission of 3% plus VAT (3.6% inclusive of VAT) on the hammer is payable if you use the live auction bidding facility on the Invaluable website (invaluable.com). This charge will be added to your invoice automatically.

Payment (UK Buyers)

Payment is preferred by direct Bank Transfer to our bank account. Our bank details will be supplied to you with your invoice.

Payment can be made in cash at the Cashier's Office, either during or after the sale. Alternatively, you can pay by cheque (Pounds Sterling only), please allow 5 working days for the cheque to clear before collection of goods.

Credit or Debit Card payments will not be accepted by telephone unless by prior arrangement with the auctioneers. Card payments can be made in person at our premises but must be accompanied by relevant ID confirming address details. We do not accept payments by American Express.

Payment (Overseas Buyers)

Payment must be made by direct Bank Transfer to our bank account. Our bank details will be supplied to you on your invoice. No card payments will be accepted unless by special prior arrangements with the auctioneers. All transfers must state the relevant invoice number. The amount we receive must be the total due after currency conversion and the deduction of any bank charges (normally £7).

UK Shipping

We are not specialist shippers. Some items, such as framed & glazed or fragile goods, will require specialist handling and buyers will be asked to use Mailboxes or RF Shipping Ltd. (details below).

For non-fragile items and items of reasonably small size, we offer an in-house packing and shipping facility for UK buyers. When possible, purchases will be sent by either Royal Mail Special Delivery or DPD overnight service. The charge for this service is variable (£15 minimum per parcel) and will be added to your invoice. Please note shipments to the Highlands and Islands may require shipment by courier and may be more expensive. Please contact us for a quote before bidding.

For larger packages and fragile goods, we recommend Mailboxes, Pack & Send or RF Shipping Ltd who will collect fully paid-for purchases from us twice a week and liaise with the buyer direct. For more information please contact Sarah Ball by telephone on +44 (0)1285 860006 or email sarah@dominicwinter.co.uk. These companies will require payment direct for their services.

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