[ANTARCTICA] Naval Medical Supplemental Fund. Standing Orders and Regulations. (Issued to Joseph Dalton Hooker on his appointment as second surgeon on HMS Erebus)

A$3,300 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

For the Constitution and Government of the Supplemental Fund for the Relief of the Widows of Medical Officers in the Royal Navy . [London : Council of the Royal Navy, 183-?]. Octavo (230 x 135 mm), stitched as issued with blue paper spine, pp [49]-54; the front is inscribed: Mr Joseph Dalton Hooker. Admission Fee £2.6.0 received Admty 15th May 1839 ; chipped edges and scattered spotting, else very good. An evocative relic from the early career of botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911), one of most eminent scientists of the nineteenth century. Joseph Dalton Hooker served as assistant surgeon on HMS Erebus during the Antarctic expedition of James Clark Ross, 1839-43. Hooker had only recently received his medical degree from the University of Glasgow and, at 22 years of age, was the youngest member of the expedition. He received the news of the confirmation of his appointment on May 18, 1839. This inscribed copy of the standing orders of the Naval Medical Supplemental Fund was presented to him just three days prior to that date. It served as a receipt for Hooker s first contribution to the fund, which had been established in 1817 for the benefit of the widows and orphans of medical officers. Medical officers were obliged to contribute to it. Hooker s appointment to the Antarctic expedition was secured largely through the influence of his father, botanist William Hooker (1785-1865). Since the only official position available to him was that of assistant surgeon, Hooker promptl

• Binding: Hardcover

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