About this Item
412 p., figures ; illustrated with line drawings ; In-8°.; OCLC: 457814328 ; Virgil Pendleton Gibney was born September 29, 1847 on a farm in Jassamine County, KY, the elder son of a general practitioner, Robert A Gibney, M.D. Virgil Gibney had los t his ring and little finger of his right hand in 1858 when he was 11 years old, supposedly in an accident in Nicholasville, KY. This did not stop him from proceeding to study surgery. At the time of the Civil War, Robert A. Gibney was a staunch Unionist, but his son, Virgil, was a Rebel, too young to enlist. When troops of either side came through the area, they attacked the homestead with equal ferocity, forcing the family to remove to Lexington. Here, Virgil Gibney attended Kentucky University after the war, then Louisville University, obtaining his M.D. degree in 1871 at Bellevue Medical College. His first appointment after medical school was as Assistant Physician and Surgeon at the Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled, New York. Gibney studied over 2,000 cases of tuberculosis of the hip, all treated by expectant treatment as prescribed by Dr. Knight, the hospital's Chief Surgeon. Gibney was an excellent observer and took voluminous notes. He formulated his own approach to treating this condition. He advocated traction for mild cases and surgery for advanced cases. He never discussed these principles with his chief. Although very respectful of Knight and his conservative approach to treating patients, Gibney published this book on tuberculosis of the hip advocating surgery. James Knight discovered this publication and was astonished by its recommendations. Abruptly, in 1884, he asked for Dr. Gibney's resignation in 1884. James Knight's health was failing, and he died on October 24, 1887. The Board immediately contacted Gibney to offer him the position of Surgeon-in-Chief. Dr. Gibney was visiting surgical clinics in England and Scotland with his wife and son when he received the wire from a Board member, Cornelius Vanderbilt, informing him of Knight's death and asking him to take charge of the hospital.Gibney's European visit was very rewarding as he met a number of notable surgeons. Gibney's visit to Edinburgh and Glasgow was particularly eye open ing as he was exposed to the antiseptic techniques introduced by Lister in 1866. In 1894, Dr. Gibney was appointed the first Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He had a phenomenal memory for names of his patients and kept careful notes on them. In his biography, his son, Robert A. Gibney, wrote: 'For years he carried a bright red leather cover into which was fitted his current memorandum book, changed every month and then filed. When he was unoccupied, he had a habit of taking out this memo book for reference as he thought things over, irrespective where he happened to be at the time.' ; green cloth with blind stamped tooling and lettering in gold ; large water stain to the spine, but does not af fect the text ; signature of nineteenth century physician, A. K. Bell, from Madison, Georgia on front ep ; rare ; a FAIR copy. Seller Inventory # 5152
Contact seller
Report this item
