[Women]. Tracy, Martha

Ye Medical Student's Primer by M.T. [cover title]

[Philadelphia]: 1901. [52]pp. Quarto. Original tan printed wrappers, stitched as issued. Closed tear and slight loss in lower front corner, repaired with tape on verso. Light wear, toned, minor soiling. Very good. Item #6405

A charming small-press publication comprised of humorous poetry and drawings by Martha Tracy during her tenure as a medical student at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania. Each set of lines is preceded by a title page, such as "Ye Serene Skeleton," which is then accompanied by a line drawing: "Ye skeleton seems happy quite, / Hung by his head morn, noon and night -- / Though students come and students go, / He still swings gently to and fro". Other stanzas are dedicated to Ye Booklover, Ye Distasteful Drugs (about a female medical student testing drugs by tasting them), Ye Frightful Germ, etc. Martha Tracy (1875-1942) graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1898 and thence from medical school in 1904. After post-graduate work at Cornell, she became a professor of chemistry at WMCP in 1907, then served as dean from 1917 until her death in 1942. The present work was edited by her classmate Ellen Culver Potter (1871-1958), who graduated in 1903; Potter went on to become a prominent physician and public health official. A wonderfully charming production, and quite rare, likely due to a very limited production run. We locate three copies in OCLC.

Price: $1,500.00