Four Manuscript Diaries.
Medical Diaries of a Female Physician
[Health issues]. Bishop, Almina Bryant. Diaries of Dr. Almina Bryant Bishop. 4 volumes. Vermont, 1868-1883.
12mo.; black leather covers; two volumes with gilt edges, two volumes with marbled edges; all four volumes have a flap on the front cover stamped with the year; light wear. In a specially made cloth slipcase.
An unpublished series of diaries kept by a female physician, Dr. Almina Bryant (later, Bishop). The diaries are dated 1868, 1870, 1873 and 1883. Bishop’s life pinballed between various towns in Vermont and Massachusetts; the first diary is signed “Almina B. Bryant, Readsboro, Vermont, born Jan. 21-1836” and is embossed with the retailer’s stamp on the front endpaper, “W. Felton. Books, Music, Stationery, & Fancy Goods. Brattleboro, VT.” The second diary is also signed “Almina B. Bishop,” now living in Franklin, Massachusetts; the third diary has a sticker on the rear cover that reads, “Dr. Lewis M. Bishop, 208 Highland St., Worcester, Mass.” (Lewis Bishop was her husband), and the last diary is signed “Mrs. Dr. A.B. Bishop. Bennington, VT.” The first two diaries were day-planners for the year 1865; Bishop has re-labeled them for 1868 and 1870, and sporadically altered the printed dates throughout the diary to match the date of composition. (For the 1870 journal, Bishop rebound a printed journal from 1867 with a cover labeled 1865, and altered the dates accordingly.) Throughout the four volumes, she uses various colored inks or pencil to make her entries.
All of the entries are short and recap the major event of her day; for example, on Saturday, June 30, 1869, “went to Adams bought 1 bush Barley 200 meal 250 coarse rye 100.” There are frequent spelling mistakes and grammatical errors throughout; and, until she became a physician, her interpersonal relationships were limited to just a handful of people – presumably family members and neighbors: Etta, Cora, Simeon, Ed, and Frank. In 1883, her circle of acquaintances expanded, and she includes names of people to whom she administered “treatments.” She goes into little detail but was apparently kept busy treating several people in her own town as well as in neighboring towns and cities. She was diligent about keeping financial records: on Saturday, July 21, 1883: “Mrs. Dickinson owes me 8 dollars on the last months medicines and one dollar for her treatment today.” And on Tuesday, December 6, 1883: “Medisine for Mrs. Dickinson one bottle of syrup 2.00, one treatment for one dollar 1.00, one Role of plaster 20 cts., one Box of ointment 25.”
The most compelling volume dates to 1883, the year in which she records her experiences as a physician. On the front endpaper, directly below her penciled signature, she includes a recipe for “Cholera Medicine,” which consisted of “1 oz. laudanum, 1 oz. spirits Camphor, 2 drams rind cayenne, 1 dram of cinamon, 2 drs oil cloves.” On the inside of the rear cover, Bishop has pasted a typed poem by Theo D.C. Miller, M.D., no doubt to motivate her in her work. The first diary entry for January 1, 1883 records, “began to doctor Frank Stevens the last day of the year gave him his second treatment today.” On March 3, 1883, she writes “I went up to see Mrs. Kendall the Insane woman for the first time.” Throughout 1883 she briefly records her visits to patients and treatments for their ailments; she also notes her own illnesses. From October 27 until November 12, Bishop was mostly preoccupied with taking care of “Mrs. Johnson,” whom she had visited every day during her illness. One entry, from November 1, reads, “Went to Mrs. Johnson’s once. Frank went to North Bennington. Mrs. Mandy Marsh came and got a Bottle of Liniment. Went to Mrs. Johnson’s. Staid all night.” Perhaps predictably, in the entries for November 13 and 14 – the two days following the completion of Mrs. Johnson’s treatment – Bishop notes her own health, writing, “Sick all day.”
A wonderful life record of an
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