NIGHTINGALE FLORENCE: (1820-1910) English Pioneer of modern Nursing. A.L.S., Florence Nightingale, t

NIGHTINGALE FLORENCE: (1820-1910) English Pioneer of modern Nursing. A.L.S., Florence Nightingale, t

NIGHTINGALE FLORENCE: (1820-1910) English Pioneer of modern Nursing. A.L.S., Florence Nightingale, two pages, 8vo, South Street, Park Lane, London, 3rd May 1874, to Dr. [Charles Wager] Ryalls, Secretary of the Social Science Association. Nightingale writes in bold pencil and announces 'I propose republishing in the form of a pamphlet my paper on ''Life or Death in India'', read at the meeting of the Social Science at Norwich in Sept. 1873' and continues to seek the permission of the Council for so doing, further remarking 'The appendix constituting two thirds of the publication is entirely new: & the paper itself enlarged & partly re-written. Under these circumstances I propose also to register the copyright in my own name'. With blank integral leaf. Accompanied by the original envelope (heavy dust staining to the recto) hand addressed and dated in ink by Nightingale and bearing a Penny Red postage stamp. One small, neat tear to the right edge of the central fold, not affecting the text or signature, VG

Nightingale concerned herself with the health of the British Army in India and demonstrated that bad drainage, contaminated water, overcrowding and poor ventilation were causing a high death rate. Following the report The Royal Commission on India (1858-1963) Nightingale concluded that the health of the army and the people of India had to go hand in hand and so campaigned to improve the sanitary conditions of the country as a whole. Nightingale made a comprehensive statistical study of sanitation in Indian rural life and was the leading figure in the introduction of improved medical care and public health service in India. In 1858 and 1859 she successfully lobbied for the establishment of a Royal Commission into the Indian situation, providing her own report to the commission, which completed its own study in 1863. In 1873, following a decade of sanitary reform, Nightingale reported that mortality among the soldiers in India had declined.