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Notes from the past | Old surgical notebook donated to Mercer Island Thrift Shop

Published 11:30 am Friday, January 20, 2017

Notes from the past | Old surgical notebook donated to Mercer Island Thrift Shop
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Notes from the past | Old surgical notebook donated to Mercer Island Thrift Shop
A book of surgery notes from 1801 (right) and a 1926 letter to the War Department, Office of the Surgeon General requesting information on the history of the book (left) were donated to the Mercer Island Thrift Shop. Katie Metzger/staff photo
The notebook’s cover shows that it was written by an Edinburgh student on lectures on anatomy and surgery from Alex Monro. Katie Metzger/staff photo

Mercer Island Thrift Shop staff members are trying to find a home for an interesting piece of medical history donated to the shop some time ago.

It is an Edinburgh student’s notebook from 1801-1802 of the lectures on Anatomy and Surgery by Alexander Monro (segundus) and possibly notes by Alexander Monro (tertius), one of Charles Darwin’s teachers. As part of this 480-page notebook, there are anatomical etchings from various artists. Alexander Monro (primus) was the founder of Edinburgh Medical School.

At some point, the notebook became the property of a Dr. Horace Manchester Brown, MD, FACS of Milwaukee, Wisconsin who had made an inquiry in 1926 to the War Department, Office of the Surgeon General requesting resources for the history of Monro and how the notebook might have been circulated to the United States.

The Thrift Shop is a nonprofit organization that supports the department of Youth and Family Services for the city of Mercer Island.

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