On conical cornea

Historical Significance: This booklet was originally published in the London Journal of Medicine. Part 1 of this text was published in that journal in 1850 (May); 2 (No 17 May): 407-419 and Part 2 was published in issue No 18 June: 523-539. This booklet is presumably a reprint of those two articles with new pagination. W White Cooper Esq FRCS (1816-1886) was senior surgeon to the North London Eye Infirmary and one of its original staff. He was a careful, steady, and neat operator, and judicious and painstaking in treatment. His obituary in Lancet 19 June 1886, p. 1187 says 'In 1859 he was appointed surgeon-oculist in ordinary to Queen Victoria, whose sincere regard he gained (Court Circular, 2 June 1886). It was announced on 29 May 1886 that he was to be knighted, but on the same day he was seized with acute pneumonia, of which he died on 1 June 1886.' He wrote an 'Invalid's Guide to Madeira,' 1840; 'Practical Remarks on Near Sight, Aged Sight, and Impaired Vision,' 1847, second edition 1853; 'Observations on Conical Cornea,' 1850; 'On Wounds and Injuries of the Eye,' 1859. He also published in 1852 a volume of 'Zoological Notes and Anecdotes' under the pseudonym 'Sestertius Holt,' of which a second edition appeared in 1861 under the title 'Traits and Anecdotes of Animals.' The Kett Museum holds Cooper's 'Practical remarks on near sight' 1847. (Cat No. 2331). This booklet on 'Conical cornea' is a surprisingly early writing on the subject although it is preceded by a book of the same title by James Pickford (Dublin 1844), which is acknowledged by Cooper in his booklet. The inscription on the booklet is to James Dixon Esq. He was a surgeon to the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields, London who also paid close attention to keratoconus and whose work is acknowledged on pages 13 to 16 of Cooper's booklet.