Suggestions for the Improvement of Hospitals and other Charitable Institutions

London: C Dilly, 1796. First Edition.. Full contemporary calf.. Fair; x - library with two circular stamps on the title; binding in poor condition, crudely rebacked.. 8vo, x, [2 - contents], [1] - 109, [1 - blank] pp. Half-title present. Signed on the title page "William Newton Mercer" a Baltimore physician who worked in New Orleans.

A little known and fascinating book on the means to bring about the improvement of hospitals and hospital care. Blizard, a student of Pott, was appointed Surgeon to London Hosp. in 1780 and in 1785 founded the medical school. The essay offered here is one of his limited number of publications. The impetus for the essay was the issue of the appointment of Assistant - Surgeons to hospitals. Blizard supports the idea. The bulk of the text makes numerous practical suggestions for the construction, administration, and funding of hospitals. DNB II, 685. Mercer was born in Cecil County, Maryland, in 1790. He studied medicine at The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine under Benjamin Rush. He then served as a surgeon for United States Army during the War of 1812, stationed in New Orleans, Louisiana, then Natchez, Mississippi, before resigning there into private practice. In Mississippi, Mercer owned four plantations in Adams County—Laurel Hill, Buckhurst, Ellis Cliffs, and Ormond—and property in Coahoma County. Mercer owned 342 slaves, and was the twelfth largest slave owner in the state.