Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 718

COTTON MATHER (1663-1728) An account of the method and success of inoculating the small-pox, in Boston in New-England. Printed for J. Peele 1722 [4] 27 pp. 19.2 cm.

Mather is perhaps more familiar to us as a preacher, man of letters, scholar, and scientist. He is also well known for his involvement in the Salem witchcraft trials of the late seventeenth century. He had a keen interest in science and medicine and was one of the few American colonists to be elected to the Royal Society. In spite of widespread and outspoken opposition to inoculation for smallpox, Mather advocated it and actively republished reports of earlier writers on inoculation. He persuaded Zabdiel Boylston (1680-1766) to make the first inoculation for smallpox in America at Boston on June 26, 1721. The present letter, written to Mather's friend Jeremiah Dummer (1681-1739) in London, recounts the story of inoculation in Boston by Boylston. Dummer then sent the letter on to the College of Physicians and it soon appeared in print.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 5414

Gift of John Martin, M.D.