Caldwell, Charles. The Autobiography of Charles Caldwell, M. D. With a Preface, Notes, and Appendix by Harriot W. Warner; New Introduction by Lloyd G. Stevenson, M.D., Yale University. New York: Da Capo Press, 1968. [6276]
Blue cloth with gilt titles, binding shelf-worn with light stains and smudges. 6 1/2 x 9 1/4 inches, XXVII (new material), 454 clean and unmarked pp. Includes a reproduction of the original portrait frontispiece & title page. No dust jacket. Good. Hardcover.
An unabridged republication of the first edition published in Philadelphia in 1855.
Caldwell's fascinating autobiography begins with his earliest memories from the late 18th century, and take in some of the most important persons and events of the times. His strong (sometimes caustic) personality leaves one in no doubt of his opinions and preferences. He recalls teachers, Presbyterian ministers, politicians (including George Washington), Benjamin and Mrs. Rush, the chemist Woodhouse, the Yellow Fever epidemic, &c. He commanded an escort for President Washington in North Carolina in 1796, and in 1798 was appointed surgeon and took part in the march of soldiers to quell the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. The biography gives a vivid account of a practicing physician in the early years of the Federal Republic.
Charles Caldwell (1772-1853), b. Caswell Co., NC; d. Louisville, KY. He earned his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania, learning from the celebrated Benjamin Rush. He was one of the leading, perhaps the leading physician of his day, and wrote over 200 medical papers for publication. He taught at his alma mater after graduation, and then joined the faculty at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY. Later he helped to create the Louisville Medical Institute. Caldwall was a proponent of polygenism, the belief that the different races of men derive from different origins, and that God created four different races of mankind: the Caucasian, Mongolian, American Indian, and African. He was an early proponent of proper hygiene in medicine and society.