the doctor who made midwifery compulsory at edinburgh

A neat and substantial set of manuscript lecture notes on obstetrics made by a student of the prominent physician James Hamilton (1767-1839) at the University of Edinburgh in 1822, during the period when obstetrics and gynaecology were being professionalised and brought under the control of male physicians.

Hamilton was the son of Edinburgh obstetrician Alexander Hamilton. He studied at Edinburgh, Paris, Leiden, and the University of St. Andrews; joined his father's practice at age twenty-one; and succeeded him as chair of midwifery at Edinburgh in 1800. Beginning in 1815 he attempted to have midwifery made compulsory for medical students, and only succeeded in 1830 after a protracted legal battle.

'Hamilton had a harsh voice and a broad Scottish accent, but he was a powerful and acute lecturer. Thanks to his great experience he had amassed a wealth of original observations and he attracted large classes, despite the fact that during most of his career his subject was not a course requirement. He supported the Lying-in Hospital largely at his expense and he had great influence over his patients' (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). Hamilton published a number of books and pamphlets including Practical Observations on Various Subjects Related to Midwifery (1836).

As explained at the beginning of the notes, Hamilton's lectures cover the anatomy and physiology of the uterine system, the act of child bearing, the diseases of women (unimpregnated, pregnant, and after delivery), and the diseases of children. We cannot locate the note-taker, Thomas Beaumont, in the historical record.

Though the majority of this manuscript comprises the notes on obstetrics, there are five and a half pages on vaccination at the rear, copied from William Howison's 'Remarks on Vaccination' published in The Lancet in 1831. The eleven sections of this short article cover the appropriate age for vaccination, health requirements for the infant, equipment and procedures, vaccination from a living host versus inoculation with previously stored material, the relevance of climactic conditions, and inadvisability of combining vaccination with purgatives or other treatments.

Notebook containing 95 leaves of manuscript text (primarily rectos) and 83 blank pages, a little faint toning to contents; contemporary green half roan, marbled sides, new morocco label, binding worn with loss from the corners and spine ends, joints starting, very good condition.