Brief Overview of Collection, MC077

Name: Joseph Lister Letters

Dates: 1887-1904

Extent: .10 cubic foot

Historical Note: Sir Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister of Lyme Regis, 1st Baronet, M.D., was born April 5, 1827, the son Joseph Jackson and Isabella Harris Lister. In 1844 he entered University College in London, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1847. Lister received his medical degree from the same institution in 1852 and soon afterward relocated to Edinburgh, Scotland, to train with James Syme. In 1856 Lister married Dr. Syme’s eldest daughter, Agnes. In 1860 Lister was appointed surgery chair at the University of Glasgow, a position he held until 1877 when he was recruited as the chair of surgery at King’s College, London. Lister retired from King’s in 1892. He was the member of numerous organizations, won numerous awards, and in 1897 became the first medical professional to be raised to the British peerage. Lord Lister, the founder of antiseptic surgery and first person to isolate pure culture bacteria, died at his home on the Kentish coast on February 10, 1912. A public funeral was held at Westminster Abbey, with burial in the Hampstead Cemetery, London. As the Listers had no children, his peerage became extinct at his death.

Scope & Contents: Three handwritten letters, signed, one with an accompanying presentation card, two with accompanying photographs.

Arrangement: Chronological

Accession Number: M2001-14

Provenance: Donated to the UAB Archives in October 2001 by the daughter and son-in-law of the late Lister Hill, who had received the letters as gifts during the course of his long career as a United States Congressman and Senator.

Copyright: There is no copyright to the material in this collection, although UAB maintains its proprietary rights to the material.

Finding aid: Printed descriptive guide by Tim L. Pennycuff available in repository.

Access Points:

Lister, Joseph, c Baron, d 1827–1912.

Medicine x History

Physicians z Great Britain.

Document Types: Correspondence

Location: Manuscript Stacks

Related Series: PMC77, Joseph Lister Photographs

(Please consult the archives staff for details on an additional Lister letter contained in another collection.)

Physical Condition: Acid free folders, acid free box.

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Maintained and Last Updated by Tim L. Pennycuff 21 July 2004.
Copyright 2004: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees.