W. W. Francis, tributes from his friends on the occasion of the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Osler Society of McGill University

摘要

A German dictionary defines the word "Festschrift" as "a festive publication" and this volume honoring Dr. William Willoughby Francis, Librarian of the Osler Library at McGill University, is indeed that. Most Festschrift volumes are composed of essays, scientific or otherwise; this one, however, is a collection of tributes from thirty-nine friends to Dr. Francis himself, as a scholar, as a bibliophile, and as the rare person he is. The contributors might have been many times more numerous, for Dr. Francis' friends are legion. However, those whose tributes are to be found here have been well chosen, for many of the signed vignettes are bits of literature noteworthy in their own right, and the list of contributors includes names long familiar in medical history and medical bibliography. One is impressed by the uniformly fond admiration shining through the tapestry of words. For this reason alone, the volume would be cherished by Dr. Francis' many friends, of whom the reviewer is proud to be one. To an unusual degree these tributes will in addition introduce the real Dr. Francis to those who have not had the good fortune to know him personally.