Eye pioneer's rare manuscripts go up for sale

A rare opportunity to acquire a 500-page hand-written manuscript of prominent case studies of eye injuries and diseases at Moorfields Hospital is now possible as the document is being offered for sale at Bonhams Printed Books, Maps and Manuscripts sale at Oxford (UK) on 27 April.

Dating back to 1900 the book is believed to have belonged to the pioneering eye surgeon and author of Pathology of the Eye,Sir John Herbert Parsons. It features almost 300 case studies at what is now Moorfields Eye Hospital (formerly the London Ophthalmic Hospital) where Parson began work in 1900. Also on sale will be materials that relate to Sir John including testimonial letters about his suitability as a consulting surgeon at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children.

During the early part of the twentieth century Parsons also penned Diseases of the Eye, now in its 20^th edition and still selling strongly today.