Valentine Mott Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS C 281

Abstract

From 1811 to 1834 Mott was in very extensive practice as a surgeon, and most successful as a teacher and operator at Columbia University and New York University. He also served on the board of the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. He was on the founding faculty of the university medical college of New York (New York University School of Medicine).

Dates

Creation: 1807-1864

Extent

0.42 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Creator

Mott, Valentine, 1785-1865 (Person)

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

NLM believes these materials to be in the public domain. Archival collections often contain mixed copyrights; while NLM is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. It is the user's responsibility to research and understand any applicable copyright and re-publication rights not allowed by fair use. NLM does not grant permissions to publish.

Privacy Information

Archives and manuscript collections may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in any collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications for which the National Library of Medicine assumes no responsibility.

Biographical Note

American surgeon, was born at Glen Cove, New York, on the 20th of August 1785. He graduated at Columbia College, studied under Sir Astley Cooper in London, and also spent a winter in Edinburgh. After acting as demonstrator of anatomy he was appointed professor of surgery in Columbia College in 1809. From 1811 to 1834 he was in very extensive practice as a surgeon, and most successful as a teacher and operator at Columbia University and New York University. He also served on the board of the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. He tied the innominate artery in 1818; the patient lived twenty-six days. He performed a similar operation on the carotid forty-six times with good results; and in 1827 he was also successful in the case of the common iliac. He is said to have performed one thousand amputations and one hundred and sixty-five lithotomies. After spending seven years in Europe (1834-1841) Mott returned to New York and was on the founding faculty of the university medical college of New York (New York University School of Medicine). He translated A. A. L. M. Velpeau's Operative Surgery, and was foreign associate of the Imperial Academy of Medicine of Paris. He died on the 26th of April 1865.

[from Love To Know, http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Valentine_Mott and Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine_Mott, viewed 5/31/2007]

Scope and Contents

Includes miscellaneous letters, travel correspondence, case histories, physician consultations/patient letters, miscellaneous legal documents and receipts/invoices, lecture notes, treatment notes, pharmaceutical preparation notes. Mott was a highly sought and regarded surgical instructor of his time in the United States. He started private practice in 1809, then became an instructor at the Medical College of Columbia. He was associated with the university until 1835.