Surgery Diploma for early Eye Surgeon

London: Hardy & Son, St. Paul's Church Yard, 1830. Very good overall. Two elegantly engraved certificates made out to Mr. Marmaduke Thompson, for attendance at two courses of lectures on the "Principles and Practice of Surgery", in May of 1830, signed by Frederick Tyrrell, one of the private medical school's founders, and the second for attending Lectures on the Theory & Practice of Midwifery, & on the Diseases of Women & Children, in April of 1828, signed by David D. Davis.

Frederick Tyrrell (1793 - 1843) was a noted British surgeon, and nephew of Sir Astley Cooper, one of the period's most celebrated surgeons. Tyrrell began his career as assistant surgeon at the London Eye Infirmary in 1820. In 1822 he was lecturer and surgeon at St. Thomas Hospital; in 1840 he published 'Diseases of the Eye'.

The Aldersgate Medical School was a private medical school founded in 1825 by Tyrrell and others, and was a serious rival to St. Bartholomew's Hospital as a teaching institution. The rivalry between hospitals and private surgeons can be seen in the pejorative name given to private surgeons of the day, who did not allow other surgeons to view their work: "hole and corner" surgeons.

The Lancet of 1829 -1830 records the lectures on the Principles and Practice of Surgery at the Medical School at 58 Aldersgate Street, as offered on Tuesday and Friday at 7 o'clock. A single course cost three guineas; perpetual entry to surgery cost 21 guineas, with examinations in surgery held once a week.

The certificate decorated with a bust of Hippocrates, with the Hippocratic oath in Greek printed below. 15 x 19". A very light fold line at the left; closed tear at right and crack at base. Obstetrics certificate 11 3/4 x 19" with a reclining child surrounded by drapes at the top.