1811

Physician to the Elephant Man reports from Monte Carlo.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:162.00 USD Estimated At:325.00 - 425.00 USD
Physician to the Elephant Man reports from Monte Carlo.
Highly interesting A.L.S. of Sir Frederick Treves, English physician and surgeon to Royal family, physician to and friend of the Elephant Man, author of The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences and other books. Hotel Windsor, Monte-Carlo, Dec. 19, 1919, 2 pp., 5 1/4 x 8 1/4. To Lord Sudeley. "...My best wishes for Christmas and the New Year...For over a fortnight we have had bright sunshine all day, without either cloud or wind...Monte Carlo is already very full, mostly with English people who have given up their houses in England. There is a lack of nothing, except matches and tobacco. Wood fuel is plentiful but as the weather has been hot it is unpleasant to think even of coal...Owing to the exchange, living is much cheaper here than in England. Indeed our Hotel bills are less than they were before the War. The gambling rooms are not quite so full as usual and no doubt feel the scarcity of money. Our daughter is still with us as her husband remains with the army of occupation in Austria. The war has not touched the Riviera in any way and everything is as trim and as smart as it was in the old days." Marginal toning, left margin a bit deckled where removed from letterbook but with no loss of text, else good plus. Treves made medical history, treating King Edward VII's appendicitis in a novel procedure two days before the 1901 coronation, saving his life. Ironically, Treves' great-nephew, an actor, played a role in the 1980 Elephant Man movie. Treves material is now uncommon.