Records of the National Convention for Revising the Pharmacopoeia

Collection

Identifier: MSS 3/001

Scope and Contents

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.

Dates

1850-1855; 1858-1864

Creator

National Convention for Revising the Pharmacopoeia (Organization)

Biographical / Historical

The fourth decennial medical convention for revising the Pharmacopoeia of the United States met in Washington, D.C., on 6 May 1850. George Bacon Wood was president of the convention. The convention appointed nine members to a Committee of Revision and Publication with the responsibility to review all submissions and amendments to the Pharmacopoeia made by delegates to the convention and oversee publication and distribution of the work. George Bacon Wood was appointed chairman of this committee. Its members were: Franklin Bache, Joseph Carson, G. N. Fitch, Joseph Mauran, John Milhau, William Procter, Jr., Joshua Riley, David Stewart, and J. W. Thompson. The committee first met in Philadelphia on 23 May 1850. Its work was essentially finished on 23 October 1852, though the committee was again convened during the summer of 1855 to consider publication of a second edition of the 1851 Pharmacopoeia.

The fifth National Convention for Revising the Pharmacopoeia of the United States was convened in Washington, D.C., on 2 May 1860. George Bacon Wood presided. At that meeting, a nine member Committee of Revision and Publication was appointed to review submissions and amendments from the convention delegates and publish a revised version of the Pharmacopoeia. The committee first met in Philadelphia on 24 May 1860 and completed its work on 7 March 1863.

Franklin Bache was the chairman of the Committee of Revision and Publication. In addition to Bache and George Bacon Wood, the membership of the committee included: Charles T. Carney, Joseph Carson, Henry T. Cummings, William Procter, Jr., Edward Robinson Squibb, Alfred B. Taylor, and William S. Thompson.

Extent

5.5 boxes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Custodial History

This collection covers both the fourth meeting (1850) and the fifth meeting (1860) of the National Convention for Revising the Pharmacopoeia.

The records of the Committee of Revision and Publication of the fourth National Convention for Revising the Pharmacopoeia were originally in the possession of George Bacon Wood who, presumably, transferred them to Franklin Bache for use during the 1860 revision of the Pharmacopoeia. The records, in conjunction with a larger gift of records concerning the fifth National Convention, were donated to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia by Bache's son, Thomas Hewson Bache, probably in 1864, soon after Franklin Bache's death. The collection was processed and catalogued in 1991.

The records for the fifth meeting was donated to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia by Thomas Hewson Bache, son of Franklin Bache, probably in 1864, soon after his father's death. The collection was donated "to be carefully kept and delivered to the Chairman of the next Committee of Revision".

The records of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia's committee were given to Franklin Bache by George Bacon Wood, presumably in 1860. The collection was processed and catalogued in 1991.

Processing Information

Boxes 6 and 7, consisting of page proofs of the Pharmacopoeia (1860) were transferred to the Library from the Museum on September 22, 2016. The page proofs were originally assigned the Museum accession number 1991.9.1.

Discarded material transferred from the Museum on September 22, 2016, and related to this collection was the index bundle (small scraps of paper on which the index terms were written), originally assigned the Museum accession number 1991.9.2.