A Short Account of the Yellow Fever

(YELLOW FEVER) • CAREY, Mathew. A Short Account of the Yellow Fever, Lately Prevalent in Philadelphia...and a List of the Dead, from August 1, to the Middle of December, 1793. Phila.: Printed by the author, 1794. 4th ed., improved. 160 pp. Private bookplate of Herbert McLean Evans on back of front wrapper, very old water staining to front wrapper, very faint bleed through to title, wrappers a bit crimped. A very good copy, entirely untrimmed and uncut, sewn in original wrappers.

In the first three editions of this book, Carey made numerous racist comments regarding the supposed immunity of blacks to the yellow fever and, more importantly, accusations that blacks were profiteering during the epidemic. Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, ministers and leaders of the black community, had provided strong rebuttals of these points, and Carey revised the book in response to their criticisms. This is the first edition after the revisions were made. While this is a relatively common edition amongst the trade, we have never seen it in the original wrappers. No auction records have been found to support there ever being a copy offered in wrappers:

Herbert McLean Evans 1882-1971, "made monumental contributions to the field of endocrinology through his studies of the physiology of reproduction. Many have remarked that the ultimate recognition of his achievements eluded him. Four of his lines of research and discovery were often mentioned as deserving of the Nobel Prize: (1) development of the vascular system, (2) elucidation of the estrous cycle in the rat, and the role of pituitary gonadotropin in reproduction, (3) discovery of growth hormone, and (4) discovery of and isolation of vitamin E. The first collaborative efforts, crucial." UCSE Library.

From Catalog I

No auction record exists for the fourth edition in its original wrappers. This copy -- entirely untrimmed and uncut, still sewn in its original printed wrappers -- is apparently unique, bearing the bookplate of Herbert McLean Evans (1882-1971), one of the great medical bibliophiles of the twentieth century. From Carey's press in 1794 to an eighteenth-century Philadelphia household to Evans's legendary Berkeley collection to the Soiferman Collection: a survival of 230 years in essentially its original state.