4. Autograph letter signed concerning second edition of 1851 Pharmacopoeia, 1855

File — Box: 1

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: The records of the National Convention for Revising the Pharmacopoeia cover the fourth meeting (1850) and the fifth meeting (1860).

The records of the fourth meeting documents the labors and progress of the Committee of Revision and Publication from 1850 to 1855. Included are the committee's minute books; records of the distribution of the Pharmacopoeia; a draft report on the committee's work sent by George Bacon Wood to Harvey Lindsly, the secretary of the National Convention, in 1852; and letters acknowledging receipt of the Pharmacopoeia by medical schools and societies and reactions by members of the committee to the proposed second edition in 1855.

The records of the fifth meeting ontains correspondence, minutes, and other official records of the Committee of Revision and Publication of the 1860 National Convention, 1858-1864, as well as preliminary material from a committee of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and the national convention itself.

Records of the Committee for Revising the Pharmacopoeia, appointed by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1858, are contained in Series 1. The series contains minute books of the committee;

reports on tests of each preparation performed by William Procter, Jr.; and a copy of the 1851 Pharmacopoeia interleaved with notes and emendations by the committee. The members of this committee, Franklin Bache, Joseph Carson, and George Bacon Wood, were charged with preparing the College's submission to the 1860 national convention.

Series 2 contains some papers from the 1860 convention which were given to the Committee of Revision and Publication for use in its labors. This series includes a manuscript copy of the minutes of the convention as well as emendations and revisions to the Pharmacopoeia suggested by delegates JacobjBigelow, Ephraim Cutter, William S. Thompson, and the constituent societies forming the Medical Society of the State of New York.

The working files of the Committee of Revision and Publication are contained in Series 3. This series includes a record of the committee's decisions, functioning as minutes of its proceedings; correspondence, generally addressed to Franklin Bache, from members of the committee, particularly William Procter, Jr., Edward Robinson Squibb, and George Bacon Wood, and publishers; and reports on tests and descriptions of the preparations included in the Pharmacopoeia. The series also includes Franklin Bache's holograph manuscript of the 1863 Pharmacopoeia and six sets of foundry proofs from the publication. Five of the sets are marked with an alphabetical code, possibly corresponding to the name of the committee member (Franklin Bache, William Procter, Jr., A. B. Taylor, and George Bacon Wood) who reviewed the set. An additional "F" set may denote the final set. A sixth, uncoded, set is also included. The series also contains the certificate of copyright filed for the 1863 Pharmacopoeia and some advertising broadsides and reprints concerning preparations and weights and measures.