| Reference number | VF/19 |
| Alternative reference number | VF19 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Portrait of Sir William Jenner by Sir Leslie Ward |
| Artist | Ward, Leslie ['Spy'] |
| Date | 26 April 1873 |
| Description | Vanity Fair cartoon titled 'Physic' featuring Sir William Jenner. Full length, slight left profile. Annotated with subject's name in pen. Number 62 of the 'Men of the Day' series/ |
| Caption | Men of the Day. No. 62
Sir William Jenner, Bart., K.C.B.
The blessings of civilisation and the diseases which arise therefrom have made mankind more dependent upon physic than it is pleasant to remember, and now at last the dispenser of physic has been admitted to something like a share of public honours. It has been pretended that his art is nothing less than that of prolonging pain; but that is felt to be a small thing, if it be also the art of prolonging life in a an overcrowded generation. Sir William Jenner is one of the most successful practitioner of those obscure devices to which the strongest are occasionally forced to resort and which even now often consist in curing a man of one disease by giving himn another. Born fifty-eight years ago, he prosecuted the usual course of medical studies, and began his public career as a midwife. He then became attached to various charities and hopitals, was elected a Fellow and Lecturer to the Royal College of Physicians, and in 1861 achieved greatness by being made Physician Extraordinary to the Queen - a position which he exchanged the following year for what must be presumed to be promotion to that of Physician in Ordinary. In 1869 he added to this post that of Physician Extraordinary to the Prince of Wales, and ever since he has enjoyed whatever advantages and jealousies Royal favour can give. He attended the Prince Consort in his fatal illness, and was in attendance on the Prince of Wales at Sandringham; for which services he has been made a Baronet and a KCB, besides being regarded at court with a personal interest extending to his private affairs and appearance.
Sir William practises strictly according to the rules of art and the etiquette of the profession, with which he is therefore popular. He has written several medical works, and may claim to be the first who pointed out the differences between typhus and typhoid fever. |
| Format | Lithograph |
| Physical description | Coloured lithograph on paper |
| Dimensions | 380mm x 263mm |
| Access status | Open |
| Copyright | The Royal Society |
| Provenance | Originally from volume formerly owned by Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, bound as item 16, since disbound for framing |
| Related material | Colour transparency, Box N101. IM/002426. Alan H Sykes 'The Doctors in Vanity Fair' 1995. page 14 |
| Related records in the catalogue | IM/002426 |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | Name | Dates |
| NA6064 | Jenner; Sir; William (1815 - 1898); physician | 1815 - 1898 |