| Reference number | VF/14 |
| Alternative reference number | VF14 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Portrait of Sir William Withey Gull by Carlo Pellegrini |
| Artist | Pellegrini, Carlo ['Ape'] |
| Vincent Brooks, Day & Son |
| Date | 18 December 1875 |
| Description | Vanity Fair cartoon titled 'Physiological Physic' featuring Sir William Withey Gull. Full length, left profile. A drawing of a raised hand in a shield appears in the top right hand corner of the cartoon. Number 119 of the 'Men of the Day' series. |
| Caption | Men of the Day. No. 119.
Sir William Withey Gull, Bart., M.D.
Born nine-and-fifty years ago in Essex, and sent early to Guy's Hospital in London, Sir William Gull has led a laborious life and achieved brilliant results. As a young man he conceived an enthusiasm for medicine which he retains to this day, and therewith a large idea of the various kinds of knowledge required for its faithful practice which has caused him to address himself to a very large sphere of scientific inquiry. For in all science he devoutly believes so thoroughly as to hold that it alone is sufficient to raise, and will in the course of time raise, the human race towards if not to perfection. In this frame of mind has he come to his work, has manfully wrestled with every kind of ascertained fact that could bear on his profession, has added much to them, and has obtained from them by passing them through his singularly clear and unprejudiced reasoning faculties, results which to many have appeared astounding. He is sparing of drugs, and observant of the patient, believing rather in physiological physic founded upon a study of individual peculiarities, than in the confident administration of medicine according to art, and seeking less to battle with disease violently as with an enemy than to woo Nature gently as a friend to that restoration of her functions which he has so often achieved. He has filled and still fills many of the most honourable offices of his profession, and three years ago he was made a Baronet and Extraordinary Physician to the Queen after his famous achievement of snatching the Prince from death. He is a philosopher and a man of strong will, yet of gentle presence, with soothing manners and a hawk's eye; precisely the kind of man to give comfort and confidence to the sick, of whom there are hundreds to record and remember that he is one of the most successful of those who have addressed themselves and given their lives to the relief of human suffering and the salvation of human life. |
| Format | Lithograph |
| Physical description | Coloured lithograph on paper, mounted on card |
| Dimensions | 380mm x 263mm |
| Notes | Text is accompanying article from "Vanity Fair" (by Jehu Junior) |
| Access status | Open |
| Copyright | The Royal Society |
| Provenance | Purchased by the Royal Society from Patrick Pollak Antiquarian & Rare Books, September 1999 |
| Related material | Colour transparency, Box N10. Alan Sykes 'The Doctors in Vanity Fair' 1995, page 17 |
| Related records in the catalogue | IM/001813. |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | Name | Dates |
| NA6348 | Gull; Sir; William Withey (1816 - 1890) | 1816 - 1890 |