Thomas
W. Baillie, MD, FRCA, Hof van Cambridge 29, 7007
GN Doetinchem, The Netherlands
Summary
Preparations are currently under way in Denmark for the celebration in
2005 of the 200th anniversary of the birth of that country`s
illustrious son Hans Christian Andersen. The renowned author of fairy tales had
a passion for travel and recorded in his diary and in the several editions of
his autobiography his encounters with the dignitaries and celebrities of his
day. On this anniversary we recall
the little-known occasion on which Hans Andersen was entertained to dinner and
to a demonstration of the effects of inhalation of ether at the home of
James Y. Simpson.
During the latter part of 1847 James Y. Simpson experimented with ether
and other agents on himself and on guests at his home at 52 Queen Street,
Edinburgh. These sessions were
generally held after dinner and are known to have been attended by Dr. Matthews
Duncan, Dr. George Keith and other medical colleagues.
Nevertheless, not all of the guests who either observed or participated
in the post-prandial inhalation of ether were professional acquaintances.
Simpson was host to many distinguished visitors from home and abroad and
on the evening of 17 August 1847 the company included two eminent literary
figures, Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) from Denmark and the Victorian
authoress Catherine Crowe (1800-1876).
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875):
photograph by Georg E. Hansen , 1869
Hans Andersen`s passion for travel took him throughout Europe
where he came into contact with the musical, literary and social giants of his
time but his first visit to England at the invitation of William Jerdan1,
editor of the Literary Gazette,
came at what he himself regarded as the pinnacle of his career2.
Following a stay of nine days in Holland, during which he had been
banqueted and otherwise acclaimed by literary admirers and press in Amsterdam,
The Hague, Leiden and Rotterdam, he boarded a vessel at Rotterdam for the
crossing to England.
Of subsequent events in London, probably the most impressive for Andersen
was the first meeting with Charles Dickens, arranged by William Jerdan.
The Danish born trader and banker Joseph Hambro arranged accommodation in
his son`s home in Kilburn and assisted Andersen in the financial deliberations
with his English publisher Richard Bentley.
It was also the 78-years-old Hambro who ultimately engineered Andersen`s
visit to Scotland, not that a great deal of persuasion was required: Andersen
accepted willingly the opportunity of visiting the Scotland of Sir Walter Scott
for whose writings he repeatedly expressed admiration.
It so happens that Joseph Hambro`s son, Carl Joachim, founder of the bank
C.J. Hambro and Sons in London3, was temporarily in Scotland where
his wife was receiving medical treatment from James Y. Simpson.
Joseph
Hambro accompanied Andersen to Edinburgh by train and, after an overnight stop
at York, they arrived at their destination on August 10. The somewhat hectic
fortnight which followed included introductions to prominent Scottish writers
and aristocrats, receptions and dinners, a tour of Edinburgh conducted by James
Simpson in person4, and a visit to the southern highlands.
The
dinner arranged by Simpson in honour of his Danish guest took place at the
professor`s home, 52 Queen Street, on 17 August 1847. One of the invitations to that particular evening has been
published previously5, that to Simpson`s friend and colleague at the
Royal Maternity Hospital, John Moir with the following text:
My
Dear Sir,
Hans
Christian Andersen, the celebrated Danish poet and writer, is here for a few
days. He is to dine with me on Tuesday first at six o`clock. I would feel
exceedingly happy if you could come and meet him. You will find him a most
loveable being and a true child of nature. He is here on a visit to a patient of
mine and has been lionizing in London for the last six weeks.
Yours very truly,
J.Y. Simpson.
52
Queen Street,
Sat.
Morning.
“Middag
hos Doctor Simpson, hvor Mis Crowe og nok en Digterinde drak Æther, jeg havde Følelsen
af at være hos to gale[,] de loe med aabne døde Øine; der er noget uhyggeligt
deri; jeg finder det ypperligt til en Operation, men ikke til at friste Gud.”
An English translation of the above entry, provided by the curator of the
Odense Museums, reads:
“Dinner
at Dr. Simpson`s, where Miss Crowe and one other poetess drank ether; I had the
feeling of being with two mad creatures – they smiled with open dead eyes;
there is something ghastly about it; I find it admirable for operations, but not
for tempting God.”
Fig
2: Dagbogen (diary), 17 August 1847 ( Manuscript Department, The Royal Danish
Library)
The
words Doctor Simpson and Mis Crowe are clearly legible on the fifth line of this
extract
A slightly more detailed description of the event appeared in Andersen`s
The Fairy Tale of My Life, a version in English of his main autobiography Mit
Livs Eventyr4 published in 1855.
“……
We met at the home of Dr. Simpson and in the large circle which was gathered
there several experiments were made with breathing in ether. I thought it
distasteful, especially to see ladies in this dreamy intoxication; they laughed
with open lifeless eyes; there was something unpleasant about it, and I said so,
recognizing at the same time that it was a wonderful and blessed invention to
use in painful operations, but not to play with; it was wrong to do it; it was
almost like tempting God; a worthy old gentleman took my part and said the same;
by asserting what I did, I seemed to have won his heart.”
However thrilled he may have been to dine with “the famous Dr.
Simpson”4, the tall lean guest from Denmark seems to have been
ill-prepared for what he was about to witness. The countenance of the etherized
young ladies engendered a feeling of revulsion which Andersen did not fail to
convey to the other guests. Although
the son of an atheist, he himself was deeply religious and repugnance at what he
witnessed at Simpson`s home and the reference to “tempting God” may have to
be seen in that light.
Catherine Crowe`s writings, betraying her obsession with the
supernatural, were widely read around the middle of the nineteenth century.
She was also interested in Spiritualism and her best-known book, The
Night-Side of Nature (1848), not only contains a great deal of information on
that subject but endeavours to uncover a scientific explanation for the occult.
Not surprisingly, therefore, James Y. Simpson found in this particular
guest a willing participant in his after-dinner experiments.
Hans Andersen and she had met her the previous evening at a reception
given in Andersen`s honour by Carl Joachim Hambro. On that occasion they sat
next to each other at dinner and Mrs. Crowe presented him with a copy of her
horror novel Susan Hopley: the Adventures of a Maidservant (1841) also known
under the title Circumstantial Evidence. The two had a great deal to discuss:
although best remembered for her preoccupation with the occult, Catherine Crowe
was also authoress of a number of childrens` books.
Despite the meeting with one of the greatest literary figures of the time
and the experience of inhaling ether, no reference to Simpson or allusion to the
evening of 17 August 1847 is known in Catherine Crowe`s writings or
correspondence. The task of cataloguing the large collection of her works and
letters at the Templeman Library is currently in progress and may yet reveal her
personal account of that evening.
References
1
Secher, O., Hans Andersen and James Young Simpson, Brit med J 1972, 44,
1212-1216
2
Bredsdorff, E., Hans Christian Andersen: an Introduction to his Life and
Works; Hans Reitzel, Copenhagen 1987
3
The merchant banker Hambro`s, dating from its foundation by Carl Joachim
Hambro in 1839, still exists with headquarters in London
4
Andersen, H.C., Mit Livs Eventyr; Bianco Lunos Bogtrykkeri, Copenhagen
1855
5
Gaskell, E., Three letters by Sir James Young Simpson, Brit med J 1970,
2, 415
6 Andersen, H.C., Dagbøger 1845-1850, [17 August 1847]; Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab, G.E.C. Gads Forlag, Copenhagen 1974
Acknowledgments