"George H. Simmons: Editor, Publisher and Writer". In: Testimonial Banquet with Presentation of Portrait to Dr. George Henry Simmons on the Twenty-fifth Anniversary as Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Monday, the Ninth of June, Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-Four, Gold Room, Congress Hotel, Chicago. Entire volume offered.

CUSHING, Harvey [SIMMONS, George H.]

Published by Chicago: American Medical Association, 1924.

About this Item

3 preliminary leaves, [7]-41 pages, portrait (before p. [7]). Original cloth-backed boards, with paper label on front board: "George H. Simmons. A Testimonial." Rubbed along edges of boards. Corners of boards a little worn. Very Good. First Edition. Tipped in to rear flyleaf: "Supplement to Testimonial to Dr. George Henry Simmons." 15 pp. This Supplement is a "Selection from several hundred letters and telegrams, and from numerous editorials". Harvey Cushing's address is "George H. Simmons: Editor, Publisher and Writer" (pp. 7-16.) Cushing Bibliography 222: "H.C. was Toastmaster on this occasion." Others who spoke: Frank Billings, William J. Mayo, Will Owen Jones, Hubert Work, William Sydney Thayer, followed by Response by George Simmons. John Fulton, in his biography of Harvey Cushing, writes: Simmons "had been something of a martinet, and Cushing himself had frequently chafed when made to conform with the unbending editorial conventions, particularly Simmons' arbitrary midwestern spelling rules . . . . But Cushing was not a person who would permit a petty annoyance of this character to blind him to the larger achievement of a man such as Simmons. Thus he wrote to Matas: 'I think we all have very much the same feeling about Simmons and the A.M.A., and I confess that I never send a paper to the Journal without swearing I will never send another, for it comes back with modified spelling which horrifies me and with all my carefully studied expressions turned into Simmonesque phrases. But nevertheless, I choose to overlook these things and think it would be a good thing for the A.M.A. and all the special societies if they could get together and pay him a tribute for the good things he has done and to forget the others.' Fulton then quotes what Simmons wrote to Cushing about Cushing's remarks: "This gives me the first opportunity I have had to tell you how much I appreciate the sacrifices you made to attend the presentation dinner; also, to thank you for presiding. I refer to the sacrifices because I know that you had made all arrangements to go to England, and that you cancelled them solely to be present that night. Further, I know that you must have devoted considerable time and thought to the task to have done so well as Toastmaster, especially in the introductory remarks. I felt especially proud that night of the character of the men who so kindly responded to the toasts. It was the great day--or night--of my life, and you were one of the chief 'instigators'. . . . Fulton continues: "Cushing's willingness to act as toastmaster did much to unify professional sentiment in the country with regard to the A.M.A., there having always been sectional feeling, and certain medical schools on the eastern seaboard, resenting what they looked upon as Chicago domination, had threatened to withdraw their support" (Fulton, Harvey Cushing, a Biography, pp. 509-10).

Seller Inventory # 16531

Bibliographic Details

• Title: "George H. Simmons: Editor, Publisher and Writer". In: Testimonial Banquet with Presentation of Portrait to Dr. George Henry Simmons on the Twenty-fifth Anniversary as Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Monday, the Ninth of June, Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-Four, Gold Room, Congress Hotel, Chicago. Entire volume offered.
• Publisher: Chicago: American Medical Association, 1924.
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good