LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 June Civil War Grand Format Auction #663  / 

74268

CSA Surgeon Caldwell's Diploma and Medical Items

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,500.00 USD Estimated At:3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD
CSA Surgeon Caldwell's Diploma and Medical Items
<B>Confederate Surgeon Major Samuel Houston Caldwell's Medical Diploma and Battlefield Medical Items.</B></I> This 1858 medical diploma from the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia awarded to Samuel Houston Caldwell measures 24¾” x 21½” and is printed in elaborate Latin script. With Caldwell's name written in calligraphy and the degree specified in Latin, this is a striking medical diploma of the doctor who would become the battlefield surgeon to Confederate cavalryman General Nathan Bedford Forrest. <BR><BR>Signed by the officers of the college, the ink on the diploma is still very dark, the parchment sturdy with some light foxing toward the middle of the diploma. The light blue silk ribbon with the attached seal of the college is still affixed to the bottom of the diploma making this an attractive presentation piece of a historical figure from the Civil War. Confederate Surgeon Caldwell took his medical office with him to the battlefield as best he could. Riding with General Forrest's command necessitated an abbreviated assortment of medical accouterments. These battlefield scales still have their weighing pans, string and four assorted square weights intact along with its 5” tin container. <BR><BR>An amazing leather cased field drug kit, fitted for twenty vials of medicines for use on the battlefield, has been remarkably preserved with nine of its original glass vials, some containing powders of different colors. Each sleeve for the vials is named for the particular medicine such as aloe, opium or antimony. Measuring 6” when closed but opening to 10” when the medicines are exposed, the leather strap of the kit has been repaired, but otherwise the kit is in excellent overall condition. <BR><BR>Taken to war with Dr. Caldwell was this tin eyeglass case and gutta percha mirror. Measuring 4¾” across, the tin case is accompanied by this 3½” x 6” gutta percha oval mirror which is missing its base into which the slotted end of the mirror would slide. <BR><BR>Dr. Caldwell remained active after the war in political circles and attended most of the meetings of the United Confederate Veterans. Governor Benton McMillin appointed Dr. Caldwell to the American Congress of Tuberculosis in 1901 as evidenced by this certificate awarded to Dr. Caldwell. Measuring 11½” x 18”, the certificate bears three fold marks, a gold Tennessee state seal, and is signed by Governor McMillin. <BR><BR>Also included with this archive is Dr. Caldwell's personal wallet containing receipts for monies owed to him in his practice at Paris, Tennessee. Dated from 1874 and later, they fit into the four inner compartments of the 8” wide wallet with its intact leather strap. These items are historical reminders of the Confederate Surgeon to General Forrest who survived the war and returned to private practice in Tennessee.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Miscellaneous Collectibles, Smal (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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