Jenner, Edward | A second extraordinary letter by Jenner to Wollaston

Jenner, Edward

Autograph letter signed ("E Jenner"), addressed to Dr. Wollaston, dated 25 November 1800, discussing the nature of vaccine fluid

3 pages, 4to (235 x 188 mm). Accomplished in sepia ink, written from Bond Street, and dated 25 November 1800, autograph address panel, endorsed by Wollaston's nephew F. Jackson in 1836; small blank area of address-leaf trimmed, first leaf split and detached where folded, old tape repairs, trace of guard.

A second extraordinary letter by Jenner to Wollaston, discussing the stages of vaccines, and the nuances of vaccine fluid.

The present letter was sent in response to Dr. William Wollaston reply to the previous lot. After reading Jenner's letter of the 20th, Wollaston wrote: "I return many thanks for your observations. … You have ascertained that unless great precaution is taken in procuring the fluid for inoculation a disease of more violent kind, and in no degree beneficial, may be produced ..." Wollaston goes on to outline specific questions and concerns related to the properties of vaccine fluids, and here Jenner replies in generous and detailed fashion: "I am induced to suppose that the progressive changes in the Vaccine fluid, may be entirely independent and uninfluenc'd by the surrounding Areola, whatever form that may assume, whether erysipelatons or simply exythematons. If from some application the skin surrounding the Pustule could be secured from any inflammatory affection (and I conceive it might) then the Fact relative to the state of the fluid could be ascertained. The question at present stands unanswerable for want of Experiments, & until these have been made, the Scales of decision must remain poised, the lapse of time in the progress of the Pustule keeping up the balance against the action of the Areola."

It would be difficult to overstate the sense of threat and anxiety smallpox posed to European society around this period. Of the virus's prevalence, Voltaire, in his Letters Concerning the English Nation, observed: "Upon a general calculation, threescore persons in every hundred have the small-pox. Of these threescore, twenty die of it in the most favourable season of life, and as many more wear the disagreeable remains of it in their faces so long as they live. Thus, a fifth part of mankind either die or are disfigured by this distemper." That Jenner was able to literally remedy humanity of this, proved the miracle of the age, with his influence gaining in strength as the century progressed. Charles Dickens was a staunch supporter of vaccine science, and frequently used his publication All The Year Round as a platform from which to extoll the virtues of mandatory vaccination. Dickens even depicted the danger inherent in smallpox in his novel Bleak House (see lot 1017), first serialized 50 years after Jenner's discover. Midway through the narrative—and following a simple act of kindness toward Jo, the lowly crossing sweeper who threads his way through the late—Esther Summerson, Dickens' heroine, contracts smallpox. Esther is left scarred, making the threat of such disease visible to all of Victorian society, and Jo's death is hastened.  In 1853, just as the serialization of Bleak House was concluded, Britain passed the Compulsory Vaccination Act, which made free vaccination obligatory for all infants under four months.

Among the most important letters by Jenner to appear on the market.

REFERENCE:

Baron, The Life of Dr. Edward Jenner (London: 1827, pp. 373-374); Voltaire, "Letter XI: On Inoculation," in Letters Concerning the English Nation (London: 1733), pp. 80-81

The present letter to Wollaston, as well as the previous lot, were first published in the Vaccination Inquirer (London: 1900, pp. 139-140)

PROVENANCE:

Sotheby's London, 29 June 1983, lot 647