REPORT OF THE EVIDENCE IN THE CASE OF JOHN STEPHEN BARTLETT, M. D. VERSUS THE MASS. MEDICAL SOCIETY, AS GIVEN BEFORE A COMMITTEE OF THE LEGISLATURE, AT THE SESSION OF 1839. PRINTED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE, BY ORDER OF THE HOUSE

Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, State Printers, 1839. 55, [1 blank] pp, stitched, untrimmed, light dustsoiling of untrimmed edges. Near Fine except for the absence of wrappers. "5/4 cts Postage" in ink on final blank.

After the Massachusetts Medical Society had expelled him, Bartlett sought to revoke the Society's Charter. The case illustrates the early efforts of medical societies to control physicians' treatment of their patients. The Society had tossed Bartlett for praising a physician who, the Society contended, was a quack. Bartlett said the Society itself "tended to promote quackery." Moreover, it sought exclusive privileges for its members and prohibited "consultation with any who do not become members of that body." Witnesses are sworn and testimony presented. Benjamin Franklin Hallett represented Dr. Bartlett.
II Harv. Law Cat. 1012. AI 54294 [5]. Cohen 14867.50. (Inventory #: 23433)