MEDICAL COLLEGE LECTURE TICKETS FROM THE 1800'S

By Dr. Michael Echols, American Civil War Surgical Antiques

Prior to 1900, most medical schools or colleges used a system of lecture cards or 'tickets' to pay their faculty and doctors who taught in the schools.  The doctors who taught the course would issue a ticket to the students for their respective lecture in return for a fee paid by the student. 

Typically in the early and mid 1800's, medical school was only for two years and students would buy tickets for the courses they needed to graduate.  If they left for a year, when they returned, they could buy just the 'tickets' they needed to complete their degree.  At the beginning of each year, the students would buy a set of lecture tickets from the various lecturers/doctors to cover the requirement for that year.  Each year they bought another set of tickets toward their degree. 

The tickets are printed on a heavy stock of paper with the name of the instructor and the signature of the instructor/lecturer may or may not be on the front or back of the card.  The student's signature is almost always on the front of the card.  If not, you have to wonder about the validity of the card.

Frequently one finds a whole set of these cards for a given student.  The cards may be in a leather pouch containing all the cards for the two years.  Typically the set may number up to 30 cards for a two year period.

Values range from $10 to over $100 (mean value $25) depending on condition, age, signatures, college, etc.  There doesn't seem to be as much interest in tickets dated after 1880 and more interest in earlier American cards.

Topics normally found on lecture cards in the 1800's:

Physic & surgery, Lectures and theory, Surgery, Medica materia, Anatomy and physiology, Chemistry, Surgical anatomy, Surgical pathology, Operative surgery, Clinical surgery, Military surgery, Pathology and practical medicine, Medicine and surgery, Principals practice and operations of surgery, Department of medicine, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Nervous diseases, Gynaecology, Venereal diseases, Laryngology, Obstetrics, Midwifery, Orthopedic surgery, Comparative anatomy

American medical schools and colleges in existence prior to and during the Civil War:

Albany Medical College, established 1839
Atlanta Medical College, established 1855
Auburn Medical School, established 1825-39
Bellevue Hospital Medical College, established 1861 and later merged with N.Y.U. Medical College
Berkshire Medical Institute of Massachusetts, established 1837-69
Brown University Medical School, established 1811
Castleton Medical College, established 1818-61
Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, established 1850
Cleveland Medical College - Western Reserve College, established 1843
College of Medicine of Maryland, established 1807
College of Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, established 1765
College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Iowa University, established 1850
College of Physicians and Surgeons, Western District of New York State established 1812-38
College of Physicians of the Valley at Winchester, established 1825-29
Columbian College, Medical Department (National Medical College), established 1825
Dartmouth College, Department of Medicine, established 1797
Geneva Medical College, established 1834-46
Georgetown College School of Medicine, established 1851
Humboldt Medical College, established 1859
Indiana Central Medical College, established 1849-52
Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, established 1825
Kentucky School of Medicine, established 1849­1908
King’s and Columbia Schools of Medicine, established 1767
LaPorte University Medical Department, established 1843-51
Long Island College Hospital, established 1858­62
Louisville Medical Institute, established 1833
Medical College of Alabama, established 1859-­61
Medical College of Evansville, established 1849­-54
Medical College of Georgia, established 1829
Medical College of Louisiana, established 1834
Medical College of Ohio, established 1821
Medical College of South Carolina, established 1823
Medical College of Virginia, established 1854
Medical Department of Cincinnati College, established 1835
Medical Department of Hampden-Sidney College, established 1837-54
Medical Department of Illinois College, established 1843-48
Medical Department of Lind University, established 1859
Medical Department of Pennsylvania College, established 1840-61
Medical Department of Randolph-Macon College, established 1837-54
Medical Department of St. Louis University, established 1842
Medical Department of the Missouri Institute of Science, established 1856
Medical Department of the University of Nashville, established 1850
Medical Department of Transylvania University, established 1816-59
Medical Department of University of Louisiana, established 1845
Medical Department University of Virginia, established 1825
Medical Institute of Yale College, established 1802
Medical Lectures at William and Mary, established 1848-49
Medical School of Harvard, established 1782
Medical School of Maine, Bowdin College, established 1820-1834
Memphis Medical School, established 1846-61
Miami Medical College established 1853-57
Miami University Medical Department, established 1831-61
Missouri Medical College, established 1847
New Orleans School of Medicine, established 1856-61
New York University Medical College, established 1837
New York Medical College, established 1847
Oglethorpe Medical College, established 1856-­61
Pennsylvania Medical University of Philadelphia, established 1853-61\
Penn Medical University of Philadelphia, established 1853
Philadelphia College of Medicine, established 1838-59
Rock Island Medical College, established 1848­
Rush Medical College, established 1843
Rutgers College (Queens College), established 1812-16
Savannah Medical College, established 1852
Shelby Medical College,  then became Medical Department of Vanderbilt University
St. Louis College of Medical and Natural Sciences, established 1855
St. Louis Medical College, established 1855,  then became Washington University 1899
Starling Medical College, established 1848-73
University of Buffalo Department of Medicine, established 1846
University of Louisville Medical Department, established 1845
University of Michigan Medical School, established 1849
University of Pacific Medical Department, established 1859
University of Pennsylvania, Medical Department
University of Vermont Medical Department, established 1820
Vermont Medical College, established 1827-56
Washington Medical College of Baltimore, established 1826-39
Willoughby Medical College, established 1834­45, 46
Winchester Medical College of Virginia, established 1847-62

Dr. Michael Echols is a collector, not a dealer, of surgical and medical textbooks as well as medical ephemera like lecture cards published prior to 1865.  Additional information on this topic can be found at the web site:

American Civil War Surgical Antiques