“An Account of Several Persons Seized With the Goal-Fever, Working in Newgate; and of the Manner, in which the Infection was Communicated to One Intire Family”; by John Pringle, M.D. F.R.S. - 1753

History has the characteristic of often repeating itself, and the experience with the malignant fever problem at the Newgate jail in the 1750s was not much different than today’s pandemic problem with the transmission of Covid-19 among people in close contact. In Newgate’s case, the solution required reducing the concentrations of whatever agents were causing the infections by improving the ventilation and introduction of fresh air into the Newgate prison areas.

In the paper “An Account of Several Persons Seized With the Goal-Fever, Working in Newgate; and of the Manner, in which the Infection was Communicated to One Intire Family”; by John Pringle, M.D. F.R.S., Dr. Pringle presents “...a short account of the manner, in which those persons were seized, the chief symptoms and progress of the disease, with some remarks upon it, in order farther to illustrate what I have advanced elsewhere, concerning the danger arising from foul air, and the agreement of this distemper with what has been called the fever of the hospital, or more generally a malignant or pestilential fever…”.

The success of the work of the new ventilators in the jail is summarized in a short letter to Dr. Pringle, attached at the end of the article, which says, in part, “...that there had been but one person died in two months; whereas before the ventilator was used, there died six or seven in a week; so that it appears very plain, that the ventilator causes the foul stagnated air to circulate, and thereby consequently is drawn out of the several wards…”.

We are offering a First Edition copy of the paper, as read before the Society on Feb 1, 1753 and published in the Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 48 For the Year 1753-1754 pages 42 to 54. The paper has been extracted and disbound from the volume. The booklet, which measures approximately 6 ¼ x 8 ½ inches, has pages that are tanned, but the text is clear and easily read (as long as you are comfortable with the then-current presentation of the letter “s” within words). The overall condition of the paper, considering its age and being extracted from its original covers, is very good.

Sir John Pringle, 1st Baronet (1707-1782) British physician, an early exponent of the importance of ordinary putrefactive processes in the production of disease. His application of this principle to the administration of hospitals and army camps has earned him the distinction as a founder of military medicine. [Encyc. Britannica]