Portrait photograph by Ross & Thomson (97 x 55 mm.)

Simpson, James Young (1811-70). Carte-de-visite portrait photograph by Ross & Thomson. Edinburgh, ca. 1856-58. 97 x 55 mm. (mount measures 102 x 64 mm.). Fine.

An excellent photograph of Simpson in his mid-forties, showing him seated at a small table holding what appears to be a pen and paper. Simpson introduced the use of ether anesthesia in childbirth in 1847, and in the same year became the first to demonstrate the anesthetic properties of chloroform on humans. The Edinburgh photography firm of Ross and Thomson was established in 1848 and remained in business until at least 1864. The present photograph is stamped on the verso with the firm's address at 80 Princes Street, which they occupied between 1856 and 1858.