A menu from a dinner at the Maryland Club for Dr. William Osler is being offered this morning at Bonhams Auctions. It is from the collection of the medical library of James Tait Goodrich, who died of the novel Corona Virus earlier this year. Dr. Goodrich was a surgeon at Montefiore Hospital in New York and was most well-known for performing surgery on conjoined twins.
Dr. Goodrich's collection of medical ephemera was almost as well-known as the surgery. The collection includes works by Vesalius, ephemera from the 17th through the 20th century and an inquiry into smallpox by Edward Jenner.
The actual menu is similar to many of the others of the same period, starting with olives, almonds and radishes, then little neck clams, soft shell crabs and cucumbers, saddle of lamb, Purée Mongole (a creamed split pea soup), Smithfield ham, lettuce and tomatoes, with strawberries and ice cream for dessert. Of course, all of the courses were accompanied by cocktails, sauternes, sherry, champagne and liqueurs.
In checking Harvey Cushing's "Life of Sir William Osler," it appears that the dinner was the night after the end of the American Physicians conference held in Washington, DC from May 12-15 under the presidency of his old Montreal friend, James Stewart. 
This makes a fascinating backstory to a wonderful piece of Osler ephemera.
Update: The menu sold for $7,500, plus a 27.5% buyer's premium and applicable local taxes.
Hello Meg, That seems like a pretty good price for the menu. I hope that eventually it makes its way to MedChi.
ReplyDelete--Jim
That would be great. I love that I found the story behind the evening.
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