Papers relating to the production of the 'Historical Review of British Obstetrics and Gynaecology'

Papers relating to Professor Miles Harris Phillips' role as joint editor of the 'Historical Review of British Obstetrics and Gynaecology' published by E and S Livingstone Ltd in 1954, together with Professor John Munro Kerr and Professor R W Johnstone, including correspondence relating to contributions from Fellows of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, sales of the volume, and reviews.

Intended as a gift to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on its 'semi-jubilee', the 'Historical Review of British Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1800-1950' was written as a sequel to H R Spencer's 'History of British Midwifery, 1650-1800'. The work was undertaken by eighteen senior Fellows of the RCOG under the joint editorship of John Munro Kerr, Robert Johnstone and Miles Phillips. The volume was divided into two parts and largely devoted to progress in British obstetrics: the first part was written by Professors Munro Kerr and Johnstone and was a general review of the conditions and advances from 1800 to 1950 in British midwifery; the second part consists of a number of essays on special subjects, including gynaecology, and contributors included F J Browne, Leonard Colebrook, Andrew Claye, James Young, and Cuthbert Lockyer.

Although Professor Phillips did not write any of the chapters, he played an active part in the production of the volume, which was published in 1954.

Source: J Mclean Morris, 'Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine', Vol 27, June 1955 and A E Caldwell, 'Bulletin of the Medical Library Association', Vol 43(2), April 1955.

This material was originally received into the Archive in envelopes, as collated by Professor Phillips. The original order within envelopes has been retained and a system of arrangement imposed on the files to facilitate access.

Open to researchers by appointment, Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. mailto: archives@rcog.org.uk

Detailed file descriptions are available from the College Archivist. mailto: archives@rcog.org.uk

Some items are fragile and require careful handling.

Copyright is vested in the estate of Professor Miles Phillips via the College Archivist.

Reproductions are available at the discretion of the College Archivist.

This is a composite series, retaining where possible original order and groupings of papers.

A copy of the 'Historical Review of British Obstetrics and Gynaecology' is available in the RCOG Library, reference WZ70 MUN.