Joseph Frank Payne, M.D., F.R.C.P., consulting physician, St. Thomas's hospital : obituary.

Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Joseph Frank Payne, M.D., F.R.C.P., consulting physician, St. Thomas's hospital : obituary. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    r TBXBBXnn Y*7t9 was ever too great or too trivial for his attention. Day after day fonnd him at work probing into the obscurities of some dead and forgotten manuscript, or collating some old and rare edition with all the care and accurateness of the scientific bibliographer. His zeal for the acquisition of old historical works and the manner in which his profound knowledge of the College and its associations led him to detect almost by intuition as it were the various items of importance in the numerous catalogues of second- hand booksellers were remarkable. His attention, even to the smallest detail in the equipment and organization of the library system, was never divided, and his intimate acquaintance w'ith almost every work of interest in the vast collection of old and rare medical works in the College Library testify to that thorough and whole- hearted manner in which he fulfilled his duties in every phase of his busy life. Volume after volume, in which one finds such phrases as “editio princeps” and “liber rarissimuB ” lightly and carefully pencilled on a fiy-leaf or inside cover, have come with remarkable frequency before the writer’s notice, thus showing that at some period or other during his term of office probably every book had passed through his hands. Dr. Payne had the interests of the library dearly at heart. Elected to the office in January, 1899, he set to work almost immediately to increase its utility by intro- ducing a number of reforms. He found that the increase of the collection fell far short of what it should have been, whether by presentations or purchases, and his suggestion to the Library Committee that Fellows of the College be requested to present copies of their works was embodied in a resolution passed at a subsequent comitia. He studied the convenience of readers with a sympathy as earnest as it was practical. Numerous alterations in the arrangement of the books were effected. All reference works were collected together, as they should have been, and placed within the reach of readers in the reading room. The general state of the library was reported on, and various periodicals of a non professional character were discon- tinued, and others more in keeping with the nature of the library were acquired. At his instigation the separate catalogues of the various bequests were incorporated into one general alphabet, thereby increasing the facilities for reference work. In addition to these improvements he caused a subject index to be prepared of all books pub- lished since 1880, and a matter of far greater moment was his drafting of rules to safeguard the priceless literary treasures the library contained. On his recommendation certain classes of books were not allowed to be taken away. These included all books before 1500, if printed abroad, and all before 1600 if printed in England, books valuable for their associations such as first editions of the works of Caius, HarVey, Sydenham, and others, or those with impor- tant inscriptions and autographs, and manuscripts of every age. These decrees revealed the spirit of the true librarian and bibliographer, whose duty it is to preserve these “monuments of antiquity’’ from the hands of careless readers. The college library was enriched to a consider- able extent, not only by his constant and assiduous attention to the catalogues of second-hand booksellers, both English and foreign, but also by his own numerous gifts. Many choice examples of the typographic art were taken from his own private library to fill up gaps in the shelves of the College. Among these may be mentioned exceedingly rare and valuable works, such as Galen, <De Temperamentis, T. Linacro interpr,, 1521, from the press of John Siberch, the first Cambridge printer; Qalen, De Nahiralibus Faeultatibus, 1523; De PuUuwm Usu, T. Linacro interpr. [1522] ; and De Motu Musculorum, N, Leoniceno interpr. [1522] —all from the famous press of Richard Pynson, one of the earliest London printers. When it may be-safely asserted that works such as these rarely, if ever, find their way nowadays into the sale roor:s, it must be apparent with what degree of self- dM ,al he stripped his own unique collection of these Tceless treasures to enrich the library of the College. ; gifts were first editions of Servetns and Sydenham, 1532 edition of Linaore’s Latin grammar, and the ’rond printed Greek text of Hippocrates, Basle, 1538. 3ven the smallest details were the objectof Dr. Payne’s padent attention. In the library he worked, the scholar f libraraan and bibliographer, imparting to all who sought fit, in the spirit of the true philanthropist, vdthout noise or I •« display, the knowledge he accumulated during long years of intellectual activity and persistent study. His severe accuracy and desire for absolute perfection—although none was ever more vrilling to own a mistake—his forbearance with the faults and failing of others, made him a model worker, despising no suggestion, evading no difficulty. This inestimable quality is to be found in the opening lines of his Harveian Oration. All progress was to him the final resultant only of all the endeavours of men in past times to penetrate the secrets of Nature. “ When,” he writes, “ we look back upon those strivings, they often seem perverse and contradictory; men at certain periods seem to have gone backward rather than forward; we are struck less by the few grains of truth than by the great mass of what we call errors. But let us speak gently of those errors, and call them rather imperfect truths, for, in science at least, the truth of to-day is error to-morrow.” This is the spirit in which he laboured, in which he criti- cized and corrected the work of his pupils and subordi- nates. A few months before his death ill-health caused him to resign his office, and for his distinguished services he was honoured with the title of Emeritus Harveian Librarian. He is succeeded by his learned friend and Fellow of the College, Dr. Norman Moore. As a collector of books, not in extent, but in the choice- ness and rarity of his copies. Dr. Payne follows in the steps of Mead, Eadcliffe, Askew, and other great bibliophiles. His collection of Incunabula and care first editions of the works of early English medical writers in the old historic founts of the early English printers must be the envy and delight of every antiquarian of moderate means. The shelves in his library at New Barnet are packed in double rows with unique specimens of early typographic art. And his collection of Miltoniana, including also first editions of the rarer works of the great poet, would be the boast of any institution. And how great was the delight with which he produced his covet- able tomes for the inspection and admiration of his visitors and friends! The few occasions on which the writer has been privileged to spend amidst such a brilliant assembly of choice and valuable works have indeed been “ crowded hours of glorious life.” In his home life Dr. Payne was probably seen at his best. With a mind well balanced, full of a knowledge of the best men and things of the world, always ready to yield to the opinions of those whom he considered better informed than himself, ever eager to listen to the con- versation of those beneath him; genial,kindly, and sym- pathetic, a profound scholar, without any signs of pedantry, utterly devoid of self-interest and self-seeking, no one more genuinely humble, he endeared himself to all with whom he came in contact. His death we deeply mourn. Is it not written, “By their deeds ye shall know them ” ? Dr. H. Sblfb Bennbtt writes: I am grateful for the opportunity afforded to join my voice in the chorus of eulogy that must follow the news of the death of J. F. Payne. We are bidden to “ speak no evil of the dead,” but in this case it would be impossible so to do, for he had no enemies who could disobey this charitable injunction. It is not mine to sing of his professional attainments; these will be dealt with by abler pens than mine. It is con- cerning his personal qualities I am permitted to speak of that which I know; for, although, whilst all members of the profession who were privileged acquaintances will mourn his loss, those of us—and they are many—who were proud to count themselves amongst his friends will sadly miss his advice and companionship. It falls to the lot of but few men to arrive at that Corinth of affectionate admiration and esteem reached by him over whom the grave closed on Saturday last. That this goal was attained by Frank Payne, as his familiars called him, was evidenced by the distinguished company that assembled to render homage on that last occasion on which the Royal College of Physicians, his university and hospital colleagues, the Local Government Board (all fully represented at the funeral) could show the respect in which he was held. How came it that he whom his brethren delighted thus to honour obtained such tribute ? The answer is undoubtedly by honest merit and high character. It is true that Payne was an eminent and exceptionally learned man, but if he had used his mental