McGill Library
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Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
W.W. Francis fonds
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on the documents in the fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
CA OSLER P155
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
185 cm of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
(1878-1959)
Biographical history
Born in Montreal in 1878, William Willoughby Francis earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1902. After interning at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital and spending some time in Europe to pursue postgraduate studies, Francis came back to Montreal where he opened a practice in 1906. He later became editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, then Registrar of the No.3 Canadian General Hospital in France during the First World War. When his second cousin Sir William Osler died in 1919, he donated his library to McGill University. Francis co-edited the catalogue of Sir William Osler's library, the Bibliotheca Osleriana, and ran the Osler Library of the History of Medicine until his death in 1959.
Custodial history
The fonds was generated by W.W. Francis during his time as Osler Librarian. Includes old accession numbers 13, 27, 73, 842, and 889. Several folders previously in this collection were transferred to the current files of the library before the collection was accessioned and transferred to MSS. Index cards for these folders carry a note of transfer.
Scope and content
The fonds contains correspondence related to the Osler Library and its holdings with people such as Maude Abbott, Edward Archibald, William B. Bean, Edward Horton Bensley, Archibald Malloch, Casey Wood, as well as John Farquhar Fulton, Keeper of the Medical History Collections at Yale University's library; the fonds also contains a typescript of talks by W.W. Francis (titled "Showman's Patter") about books and other items held in the Osler Library.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Arrangement is largely alphabetical by correspondent. Description of items taken from file folder labels. Brief index available (subjects): W.W.Francis Correspondence 1929-1959 Index.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script note
The documents are in English.
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Items can be requested for consultation online via the Library Catalogue or by email at osler.library@mcgill.ca. Advance notice is recommended.
Finding aids
Associated materials
Accruals
Alternative identifier(s)
Osler Database ID
4672
Osler Fonds ID
149
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Abbott, Maude E. (Maude Elizabeth), 1868-1940 (Subject)
- Archibald, Edward W. (Edward William), 1872-1945 (Subject)
- Bean, William B. (William Bennett), 1909-1989 (Subject)
- Bensley, Edward H. (Edward Horton), 1906- (Subject)
- Fulton, John F. (John Farquhar), 1899-1960 (Subject)
- Malloch, Archibald, 1887- (Subject)
- Osler Library (Subject)
- Wood, Casey A. (Casey Albert), 1856-1942 (Subject)