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1062 pp; 671 figs; 3 plates. Original cloth. Very Good. This copy does NOT have any library markings. First Edition. Rather than inscribing in the book, Charles Bailey inscribed this copy to Dr. Charles A. Beskin, on a separate sheet, which is included with the book: "To Dr. Charles A. Beskin/ With all my best/ regards and wishes/ Charles Philamore Bailey." This sheet has two horizontal folds. Offered with a Typed Letter, Signed from Charles Bailey to Charles A. Beskin, M.D., February 9, 1955, about this book. The TLS has two horizontal folds. Letterhead: Bailey Thoracic Clinic/ 249 Broad Street, Philadelphia 7, PA. February 9, 1955/ Charles A. Beskin, M.D./ 3789 Convention St. Baton Rouge, Louisiana/ Dear Charlie:/ Thank you so much for your kind expressions. As you may imagine I/ have been waiting to receive, with some trepidation, the repercussions/ following the publication of this work. Since it took two years of my life/ (family and social life, I mean) to write it I have been so hopeful that it/ would meet with reasonable approval from the profession./ Naturally, I only hear from those who like it or me, but so far it has/ seemed acceptable. Incidentally that $25.00 price was cut from $34.00/ by abolishing the profits and royalties for the first printing. However,/ it should pay for itself if more than that many is sold./ I am enclosing a simple expression, under my signature, for your book./ If you do not like it I will try to do better./ I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your personal word in this respect./ Best personal wishes./ Yours sincerely,/ Charles P. Bailey [signed]/ Charles P. Bailey, M.D. Garrison-Morton (online) 11547: "the first textbook of modern cardiovascular surgery." Bedford 947 (citing 1955 British printing). Quoting from the 1993 New York Times obituary of Charles Bailey: "Dr. Denton A. Cooley, the Houston heart surgeon, called Dr. Bailey 'a pioneer heart surgeon whose intrepid surgical procedures, introduced in the 1940's, will live in the history of heart surgery.' Dr. Cooley said Dr. Bailey 'could well be considered as the father of direct heart surgery, having demonstrated that the human heart could withstand manipulations which were previously considered impossible'. . . . Dr. Bailey's professional career was somewhat uneven because of his volatile nature and disregard for his critics' and that his 'aggressive and often uncompromising convictions' had led to a reputation for controversy. . . . He began studying evenings at Fordham Law School in the late 1960's, earned a law degree and became a consultant to law firms and insurance companies. Mr. Meadow said the doctor had stopped doing surgery in the mid-1970's." Charles Bailey appeared on the front cover of the March 25, 1957, issue of Time magazine, which contained a detailed article about Bailey entitled "Medicine: Surgery's New Frontier". This article concludes: "Bailey looks forward to the day when an entire heart may be taken from a man killed in an accident and grafted into another whose heart is diseased. Fantastic? 'Merely a matter of time, ' says Surgeon Bailey." The first human heart transplant operation occurred only ten years later (Bailey was not the one to perform it, however). In the previous year, Bailey was the subject of a shorter article in Time magazine about heart surgery: "Medicine: Coronary Cleaning" (Nov. 26, 1956). About the recipient of this copy, Charles Beskin, quoting from an obituary in 2007: "In 1953, at a friend's urging, and with his pioneering spirit, Dr. Beskin elected to set up private practice in Baton Rouge as the city's first thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon. Baton Rouge remained his home for the next 53 years. While in practice, he performed Baton Rouge's first open-heart surgeries.".
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