Two books belonging to the Blackwell sisters, the first and third American women physicians

LEISHMAN, William. An Essay, Historical and Critical, on the Mechanism of Parturition. First edition. 8vo. Publisher’s green cloth with Elizabeth’s signature, “E. Blackwell,” on the front free endpaper. viii, 129, [erratum] pp. London, John Churchill & Sons, 1864. [And:] COURTY, Amédée-Hippolyte-Pierre. Traité pratique des maladies de l’utérus et de ses annexes ... First edition Numerous illustrations throughout. 8vo. Publisher’s green blindstamped cloth, boards slightly warped, headcap chipped, extremities slightly rubbed, with Emily Blackwell’s signature on the half-title. xxiv, 1088, 24 (ads) pp. Paris, P. Asselin, successeur de Béchet Jeune et Labé, 1866. Once can scarcely imagine a more evocative and satisfying provenance of these two books. One was owned by Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) the other by her sister, Emily (1826-1910). Furthermore, these two works related directly to their medical careers and were doubtless useful in their work at the New York Dispensary for Poor Women and Children.In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to qualify as a physician and, in 1858, be allowed to practice in England. ODNB tells her story: "She had conceived the ambition of entering medicine about 1844, partly because of the suffering of an acquaintance whose modesty had prevented her consulting a male doctor until her uterine cancer was too advanced for any treatment; partly to dissociate the term ‘female physician’ from abortionists; and, according to her own autobiography, because she did not wish to become dependent on a man through marriage ... In 1847, after several years of private study and numerous rejections from medical schools, her application to the small, low-status medical school at Geneva in upstate New York was put to the students by the faculty, confident that a resounding rejection would result. The mischievous students, however, voted unanimously to admit her and then found themselves victims of their own practical joke when, in January 1849, Blackwell graduated MD above all 150 male students, an event that received widespread press coverage across the United States and in Great Britain."Both Elizabeth and Emily were born in England. Their family moved to the United States in 1832, settling not far from Cleveland. Elizabeth graduated from Geneva Medical College, but perhaps wary of being upstaged by another Blackwell daughter, Emily’s application was rejected. However, after attending Rush Medical College for a semester, she completed her training at what is now Case Western Reserve University. At that time she was just the third women to graduate medical school in the United States.Both of these works concern women’s medicine. William Leish’s book on childbirth was of obvious interest for Elizabeth, who in 1849 had spent time at La Maternité, the leading school for midwives in Paris, and having returned to New York opened the New York Dispensary for Poor Women and Children in 1853. At the time of this work’s publication, she was also involved in organizing women’s nursing services for the Union army. At the same time, she worked to expand the scope of her hospital to educate women medical students, and in 1868 the infirmary’s medical school for women officially opened. Elizabeth Blackwell served as professor of hygiene and Emily Blackwell as professor of obstetrics and diseases of women. As such, the second volume, Courty’s Traité pratique des maladies de l’utérus et de ses annexes ... was of direct relevance to Emily’s professorship.Books owned by either of the Blackwell sisters are very rare on the market. To have two, both in very good condition and directly relevant to women’s health, make this a very desirable set.