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Scientific Literature & Instruments (Lots 48-79)
E. CHAIN, H.W. FLOREY, N.G. HEATLEY et al
Details
E. CHAIN, H.W. FLOREY, N.G. HEATLEY et al
Penicillin as a Chemotherapeutic Agent. London: The Lancet, 1940. 8° (217 x 138mm). 8pp. Original printed wrappers, sewn as issued. (A hint of spotting to upper wrapper, otherwise fine). OFFPRINT from The Lancet, Aug. 24, 1940. [Together with:] Further Observations on Penicillin. London: The Lancet, 1941. 8f (217 x 138mm). 34pp. Original printed wrappers, sewn as issued. (The merest hint of spotting to outer edge of wrappers, 5mm closed tear to upper edge of lower, otherwise fine). OFFPRINT from The Lancet, August 16, 1941. [And:] H.W. FLOREY and M.A. JENNINGS; N.G. HEATLEY and L.P. GARROD et al. Penicillin in Warfare [Special Issue]. London: Simpkin Marshall, [July, 1944]. 4° (261 x 188mm). Photographic illustrations throughout. Original printed wrappers (very slight loss [5x5mm] to lower wrapper at bottom edge of joint, neat ownership inscription of N.G. Heatley to top right corner of upper wrapper). [And:] A. FLEMING; E. CHAIN & H.M. FLOREY; L.P. GARRODP; M.E. FLOREY. PENICILLIN 1929-1943. London, British Medical Bulletin, Vol. 2, 1944. 2° (330 x 204mm). Original printed wrappers, stapled as issued (lower outer corner slightly creased, otherwise fine). [And:] N.G. HEATLEY. Penicillin and Luck. Good fortune in the development of the 'miracle drug'. 8° (210 x 150mm). Illustrations throughout. Fine original printed pictorial wrappers. Provenance: all 5 vols by direct descent from the author.
FROM THE LIBRARY OF NORMAN HEATLEY (1911-2004), ONE OF THE SCIENTISTS WHO DEVELOPED PENICILLIN. 'Without Fleming, no Chain or Florey; without Florey, no Heatley; without Heatley, no penicillin' (Prof. Sir Henry Harris, head of the William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford [1988]).
Heatley, a biochemist working at the William Dunn School of Pathology in Oxford, developed a technique for measuring the potency of penicillin in what became known as Oxford units. His task on joining Florey's penicillin team in 1939 however was to culture sufficient quantities of penicillium for Chain to extract the active component and thereby determine its formula. Whilst Heatley achieved this by developing new techniques and designing new vessels in which to grow the culture, the laboratory was unable to produce sufficient quantities to provide sustained therapeutic treatment. At one point the scientists were extracting penicillin from the urine of patients being treated with the drug before re-administering it once more. Unfortunately commercial production of the drug in England was not possible at the time as the UK pharmaceutical industry was fully committed to the War Effort. Heatley and Florey (head of the Wm. Dunn School of Pathology laboratory) therefore travelled to the United States in 1941 to begin work on commercial production of penicillin: the first drug to be effective against bacterial infections.
Whilst Fleming, Chain and Florey all received the Nobel Prize for medicine and Knighthoods (Florey rose to be a Life Peer), Heatley's contribution, which had been no less essential, went largely unrecognised during his working life. However in later years, following an OBE in 1978, the University of Oxford awarded him with the first Penicillin Fellowship at Lincoln College, and renamed the laboratory in which he had worked for 42 years in his honour, as well as instituting an annual lecture and a lectureship in his name. Heatley was also the first non-medic in the history of the University to be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Medicine. Cf. Printing and the Mind of Man 420b.
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Penicillin as a Chemotherapeutic Agent. London: The Lancet, 1940. 8° (217 x 138mm). 8pp. Original printed wrappers, sewn as issued. (A hint of spotting to upper wrapper, otherwise fine). OFFPRINT from The Lancet, Aug. 24, 1940. [Together with:] Further Observations on Penicillin. London: The Lancet, 1941. 8f (217 x 138mm). 34pp. Original printed wrappers, sewn as issued. (The merest hint of spotting to outer edge of wrappers, 5mm closed tear to upper edge of lower, otherwise fine). OFFPRINT from The Lancet, August 16, 1941. [And:] H.W. FLOREY and M.A. JENNINGS; N.G. HEATLEY and L.P. GARROD et al. Penicillin in Warfare [Special Issue]. London: Simpkin Marshall, [July, 1944]. 4° (261 x 188mm). Photographic illustrations throughout. Original printed wrappers (very slight loss [5x5mm] to lower wrapper at bottom edge of joint, neat ownership inscription of N.G. Heatley to top right corner of upper wrapper). [And:] A. FLEMING; E. CHAIN & H.M. FLOREY; L.P. GARRODP; M.E. FLOREY. PENICILLIN 1929-1943. London, British Medical Bulletin, Vol. 2, 1944. 2° (330 x 204mm). Original printed wrappers, stapled as issued (lower outer corner slightly creased, otherwise fine). [And:] N.G. HEATLEY. Penicillin and Luck. Good fortune in the development of the 'miracle drug'. 8° (210 x 150mm). Illustrations throughout. Fine original printed pictorial wrappers. Provenance: all 5 vols by direct descent from the author.
FROM THE LIBRARY OF NORMAN HEATLEY (1911-2004), ONE OF THE SCIENTISTS WHO DEVELOPED PENICILLIN. 'Without Fleming, no Chain or Florey; without Florey, no Heatley; without Heatley, no penicillin' (Prof. Sir Henry Harris, head of the William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford [1988]).
Heatley, a biochemist working at the William Dunn School of Pathology in Oxford, developed a technique for measuring the potency of penicillin in what became known as Oxford units. His task on joining Florey's penicillin team in 1939 however was to culture sufficient quantities of penicillium for Chain to extract the active component and thereby determine its formula. Whilst Heatley achieved this by developing new techniques and designing new vessels in which to grow the culture, the laboratory was unable to produce sufficient quantities to provide sustained therapeutic treatment. At one point the scientists were extracting penicillin from the urine of patients being treated with the drug before re-administering it once more. Unfortunately commercial production of the drug in England was not possible at the time as the UK pharmaceutical industry was fully committed to the War Effort. Heatley and Florey (head of the Wm. Dunn School of Pathology laboratory) therefore travelled to the United States in 1941 to begin work on commercial production of penicillin: the first drug to be effective against bacterial infections.
Whilst Fleming, Chain and Florey all received the Nobel Prize for medicine and Knighthoods (Florey rose to be a Life Peer), Heatley's contribution, which had been no less essential, went largely unrecognised during his working life. However in later years, following an OBE in 1978, the University of Oxford awarded him with the first Penicillin Fellowship at Lincoln College, and renamed the laboratory in which he had worked for 42 years in his honour, as well as instituting an annual lecture and a lectureship in his name. Heatley was also the first non-medic in the history of the University to be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Medicine. Cf. Printing and the Mind of Man 420b.
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