Correspondence

Correction

Review of Thomas Eakins

N Engl J Med 2008; 358:971February 28, 2008

Article

To the Editor:

Greenspan's review of Amy Werbel's book, Thomas Eakins: Art, Medicine, and Sexuality in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia (Oct. 25 issue),1 contains a misstatement. In discussing the second of Eakins's “two great medical works,” Greenspan refers to the subject of the painting, Dr. D. Hayes Agnew, as “a longtime professor of surgery at Jefferson Medical College.” Agnew was a professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and the first holder of the John Rhea Barton Professorship of Surgery. The “university amphitheater” referred to was located at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Larry R. Kaiser, M.D.
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
larry.kaiser@uphs.upenn.edu

1 References

1. 1

   Greenspan RE. Review of: Thomas Eakins: Art, Medicine, and Sexuality in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia. N Engl J Med 2007;357:1782-1783
   Full Text | Medline

Author/Editor Response

Kaiser has correctly pointed out that Agnew was a professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Medical College and had no academic affiliation with Jefferson Medical College. Agnew had enrolled at Jefferson College in 1833, but that institution was not related to Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, which later became Washington and Jefferson College.

I apologize to Kaiser and to the University of Pennsylvania, and I hope that my misstatement regarding Agnew's hospital affiliation does not detract from my favorable review of Werbel's book.

Robert E. Greenspan, M.D.
7922 Washington Ave., Alexandria, VA 22308
bobgreenspan2000@aol.com