The Crime of the Century (Canadian Edition): An Exposure of the Inner Methods of the American Medical Association ; with a Public Invitation to Deny the Charges if they Dare

pp. 16. 8vo., measuring 5.25" x 7.75". Plain, twice-stapled, self-wrappers bearing the crest of the organization to the lower margin of the front cover. A few light spots of foxing to the front cover, else, near fine. Exceptionally rare in commerce, our offering being the only extant copy available at time of cataloguing. Equally scarce amongst institutional holding with the present offering, the Canadian Edition, unrecorded in OCLC. See OCLC #14788285 recording only but two instances of the American iteration of the present publication. Published prior to the onset of the devastating 1918 influenza pandemic, colloquially referred to as the Spanish flu, the present pamphlet offers a searing indictment of the motives of the American Medical Association in their wide-ranging efforts at mass innoculation of the public against the blights of influenza, smallpox, etc. Alleging profits, hidden agendas, and devoting significant sections to an individual's right to choose whether to be vaccinated, this "treatise" offers a stern condemnation of the perceived and real infringements of choice relating to one's bodily autonomy. Remarkably prescient, it is reminiscent of the rhetoric and rationale employed by modern anti-vaccine advocates, who, like the author, vigorously and vehemently question the legal and moral rationale for mass vaccination. Katherine Arnup notes in '"Victims of Vaccination?": Opposition to Compulsory Immunization in Ontario, 1900-90': "On 18 January 1900, the Anti-Vaccination League of Canada was formed. Modeled on the British antivaccinationists, and using much of their "argumentation, methods and publication", the Anti-Vaccination League set out to secure the repeal of all compulsory vaccination legislation. It is important to recognize that during these years opposition to compulsory vaccination was effectively a mass movement. At the height of the controversy, the issue was featured in Toronto newspapers on a daily basis. While actual membership in the League may have numbered only in the hundreds, thousands more supported their efforts, attending rallies, and signing petitions. Included among its members and supporters were politicians, workers, homeopaths, small businessmen, and even a few doctors. The issue clearly struck a responsive chord in the hearts of many Canadians of the day." [Retrieved, April 6, 2021].