The life and times of Gerhardt van Swieten / by Dr. A. G. Gerster.

  • Gerster, Arpad G. (Arpad Geyza), 1848-1923.
Date:
[1909]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The life and times of Gerhardt van Swieten / by Dr. A. G. Gerster. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    [From The Johns Hopkins IIosimtal Bulletin, Vol. XX. No. 210, June, 1009.] THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GERHARDT VAN SWIETEN, Born 1700, at Leyden. Died 1772, at Schonbrunn. Simplex veri sigillum. * By Dk. a. G-.'^'GWstbr, New York. The printed material available for the study of Van Swie- [161] ten's life is principally contained in the excellent monographic article by Keeker/ in his great work of medical biography; in Eloy, then in a series of articles by Morel, in the Gazette Hebdomadaire/ of the 3'ears 1853 and 1854. Dezeimeris Dictionary, Blake's biographical Dictionary, and Hirsch's similar work offer only the scantiest data of a general nature. As to the personal life and character of our man, his remark- able relations with Maria Theresa, his friendships, loves and hatreds, his habits of work and plaj'—in short, as to his more intimate individuality—our knowledge is very scanty. What little there is has been drawn from the funeral oration, de- livered on September 7, 1773, before the University of Vienna, by the Kev. Father Ignatius Wurz. Societatis JesiT, Doctor of Theolog}' and Professor of Eloquence (Printed by Joseph Kurboeck, Vienna, 1773, 12°). Father Wurz's effort, though rhetorical as the occasion required, has the stamp of sincerity, and the statements it contains seem to be authentic and trust- worthy. At any rate, they have never been contradicted. Eesearch of the epistolary and other material of a docu- mentary character, which must be extant in the Archives of the University of Vienna, in the Archives of the Austrian Ministry of Instruction, and in the hands of private men. * Motto of Van Swieten's baronial arms. ^ Biographies medicales. ' Dictionaire Historique de la Medecine, Mons, 1778. ' Van Swieten, sa vie et ses ecrits, pp. 213, 429, 453 and 517.