Ronald Ross's Signed Memoirs Recounts Discovery of Malaria in Mosquitos and Preventing the Spread of the Disease Worldwide

Ross, Ronald

Book Signed

Ronald Ross. Memoirs. London: John Murray, 1923. Octavo, 547 pages, original burgundy cloth boards. First edition with typed letter tipped to front flyleaf signed "Ronald Ross" in nice bold hand, on the letterhead of the Ross Institute & Hospital for Tropical Diseases, dated March 25th, 1926. Sir Ronald Ross received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate. His discovery of the malarial parasite in the gastrointestinal tract of a mosquito in 1897 proved that malaria was transmitted by mosquitoes, and laid the foundation for the method of combating the disease. In the typed letter signed tipped on the flyleaf, Ross writes of his 1926 trip to Ceylon, where he was attempting to initiate organizations for the prevention of malaria within the planting industries there. "I am afraid that I could not manage to collect my verses during the Journey to Ceylon," Ross writes, "because as usual there was so much doing on boardship that it was scarcely possible to do consecutive work of any kind..." Ross and other British subjects involved in malaria research perceived the disease as a crucial link in the vicious cycle of poverty in the tropics; combatting malaria was considered necessary both for the establishment of a thriving plantation economy and to ameliorate the social and economic conditions of the people of Ceylon. Ross wrote this letter "on my return to England two weeks ago" from Ceylon, where he had been a guest of the planters' lobby; his advice on this trip was instrumental in the development of malaria control strategy in Ceylon plantations. Ross's pioneering work on malaria transmission and prevention has had a lasting effect on one of the most devastating diseases in world history. The Memoirs includes 10 illustrated plates, both photographs and scientific illustrations, and recounts his experience discovering and combatting malaria. Long pencil gift inscription on front free endpaper discussing Ross's poetry and his "great mosquito discovery". Ex-libris bookplate on paste-down. Some foxing to edges, but textblock generally clean and tight. Very minimal shelfwar. Overall, in very good condition.

Item #17831

Price: $3,500.00