Description
Autograph Letter Signed ‘E.Klein’, to “Dear Starling”, asking him to introduce Dr. von Rekowski to the physiological meeting this afternoon. 1 page 7 x 4 inches, in good condition. Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital and College [London], undated. Uncommon. Emanuel Edward Klein (1844-1925), the father of British microbiology. Klein was born in Croatia and educated in Austria before settling in Britain. He is known as the father of British microbiology, but most of his work in microbiology and bacteriology was overshadowed during his life by his use of and outspoken support for animal vivisection in physiological and medical experiments. The press coverage during the anti-vivisection case made Klein widely infamous. Several novels of the period were inspired by the case including Paul Faber, Surgeon (1878) by George MacDonald; The Professor’s Wife (1881) by Leonard Graham and Heart and Science (1883) by Wilkie Collins. These novels included a scientist as a key character, modelled after Klein and juxtaposed with a range of negative traits and ethnic stereotypes.