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Spotlight On...

Class ticket signed by Joseph Lister, 1876

Below is a class ticket issued to Mr Thomas Preston Lewis and signed by Joseph Lister.

Joseph Lister (1827-1912) had become Professor of Clinical Surgery at Edinburgh University in 1869.  He was given fifty beds to supervise at the Royal Infirmary which at that time was still at its site at the bottom of Infirmary Street.  His research into the use of carbolic acid to prevent infection during surgery had already gained him a considerable reputation and he continued his pioneering work while in post. 

It is testimony to Lister’s popularity with his students that, on being offered a post at King’s College London, 700 of them signed a petition to encourage him to stay in Edinburgh.  He chose to take up the new post however, and the winter session 1876-1877, for which this class ticket was issued, was his last in Edinburgh.

These items are from a collection gifted by Dr Preston Lewis (LHSA ref:  GD1/3/4). 

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