Item 85: Bookplate, Library of W[illia]m Oliver, no date

Item — Box: 20, Folder: 85

Staff Only

Bookplate, Library of Wm Oliver, no date

Dates

Created: no date

Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities

Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.

Access:

All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.

Extent

1 items

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Type of Material:

Bookplate

Condition Note:

Poor, condition is very worn and dirty, but readable.

Measurements:

3 3/16 in. x 2 ⅛ in.

Title:

Belonging to the Library of, Wm Oliver, (No 2)

Description:

A bookplate consisting of the words “Belonging to the library of William Oliver” in a circle. William Oliver was born on August 14, 1695 in Cornwall, England. He was baptized on August 27, 1695. He was a doctor and philanthropist. His work led him to the town of Bath, where he met Alexander Pope. He is known for making the “Bath Oliver” which was a treat for his patients, but his main focus was building the Royal Mineral Water Hospital. He went to Pembroke College in Cambridge starting in 1714, and graduated with his M.B. in 1720, and later got his M.D. five years later in 1725 from Leiden University. “On July 8, 1756, he was incorporated at Oxford, and he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society on January 22, 1729. He worked in Plymouth for some time after he left Leyden, where he started a vaccine for smallpox. In 1725, he moved to Bath and lived there for the rest of his life, he was also the city’s main doctor. This was mostly because he was friends with Ralph Allen “(a fellow Cornishman who introduced him to Pope Warburton and the rest of the guests at Prior Park), and with Dr. William Borlase, his ‘friend and relation’ who, after being his patient in 1730, sent him to the gentry of the west country.” He had to jump through a lot of hoops in order to build the Water or General Hospital, now known as the Royal Mineral Water Hospital. In 1737, he tried to buy some land to build it, the buyers agreed, but later ended up changing their minds. The following year, he became a treasurer, and in July 1739 he started as “a deputy president.” On May 1, 1740, he became their doctor, with Jeremiah “Jerry” Peirce starting as a surgeon at the same time. “The regulations for the admission and removal of English patients; and in 1756 when those privileges were extended to patients from Scotland and Ireland, he compiled a set of rules applicable to their case.” Oliver was in charge of the hospital until May 1, 1761, when he and Peirce left. “The third article in Charleton’s Three Tracts on Bath Waters, 1774, consisted of ‘histories of Hospital cases under the care of the late Dr. Oliver,’ a subject on which he had himself contemplated the publication of a volume; and Some Observations on Stomach Complaints which were found among his papers, were printed in pp. 76-95 of the same work. Peirce and Oliver were painted together by William Hoare, R.A. in 1742, in a picture now in the board room of the hospital, in the act of examining 3 patients, candidates for admission.” Oliver’s career did not come without some controversy. One of the surgeons at the hospital was charged with “improper conduct” and was let go. An investigation was launched, “under the presidency of Phillip, brother of Ralph Allen,” and the way Oliver ran the hospital was praised. In 1757, Oliver and some other doctors refused to go to any events with Doctors William Baylies and Charles Lucas, “in consequence of their reflection on the use and abuse of the waters, and their censures on the conduct of physicians at the hospital. Much correspondence ensued and it was published as proving the existence of a ‘physical confederacy in Bath.’ His medical skill is mentioned by Mrs. Anne Pitt and by Mrs. Delany. He and Peirce attended Ralph Allen in his last illness and each received a complementary legacy of 100 pounds.” Oliver is known for making the bath bun, “however, it proved to be too fattening for his rheumatic patients” which led him to create the ‘Bath Oliver’ cookie and gave the recipe to “his coachman Atkins, giving him at the same time, 100 pounds and ten sacks of the finest wheat flour. Atkins started a store on Green Street and made a lot of money from it. It’s still a popular brand today. William Oliver died on March 17, 1764 in Bath.