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Actions	Joseph Bell (1837-1911) Remove from selection Add to selection Object numberED.CS.2010.34 TitleJoseph Bell (1837-1911) Creator George Fiddes (1873-1960) Watt (Delineator)‎ DescriptionJoseph Bell (1837-1911), Fellow 1863, President 1887-1889 Oil on canvas, 1896, by George Fiddes Watt (1873-1960) Joseph Bell was the last of the Bell dynasty which started with Benjamin Bell in 1771. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University where he graduated MD in 1859. Like so many eminent 19th century surgeons he started his surgical career as a House Surgeon with James Syme and was his special assistant for five years. After demonstrating in Anatomy under John Goodsir he was appointed as an extra-academical Lecturer in Surgery and then in Clinical Surgery before he became the first surgeon to the newly created Department of Surgery in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in 1887. Prior to that time most operations on children were carried out in the Royal Infirmary. He was in the habit of using Lister's carbolic spray when operating and was an excellent operator. He was the first surgeon to give systematic instruction to the nurses and was editor of the Edinburgh Medical Journal from 1873 to 1896. He was a devoted servant of the College being Secretary and Treasurer for a period of eleven years until 1887 when he became President. Bell is best remembered for his diagnostic prowess. He was an excellent clinical teacher with a flair for making lightning diagnoses in his out-patient clinics. His acute powers of observation inspired one of his pupils, Arthur Conan Doyle, with the model for Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle wrote: ‘It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes although, in the stories, I have the advantage of being able to place him in all sorts of dramatic situations’. Bell, who was President at the time, can also be seen in the 1889 painting of a College meeting by Hay. Production date 1896 - 1896 Production periodNineteenth century, late Object nameJoseph Bell (1837-1911), Portrait Object categoryArtworks MaterialOil, Canvas Dimensions Height: 130 cm Width: 108 cm

Object numberED.CS.2010.34

TitleJoseph Bell (1837-1911)

Creator George Fiddes (1873-1960) Watt (Delineator)‎

DescriptionJoseph Bell (1837-1911), Fellow 1863, President 1887-1889 Oil on canvas, 1896, by George Fiddes Watt (1873-1960) Joseph Bell was the last of the Bell dynasty which started with Benjamin Bell in 1771. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University where he graduated MD in 1859. Like so many eminent 19th century surgeons he started his surgical career as a House Surgeon with James Syme and was his special assistant for five years. After demonstrating in Anatomy under John Goodsir he was appointed as an extra-academical Lecturer in Surgery and then in Clinical Surgery before he became the first surgeon to the newly created Department of Surgery in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in 1887. Prior to that time most operations on children were carried out in the Royal Infirmary. He was in the habit of using Lister's carbolic spray when operating and was an excellent operator. He was the first surgeon to give systematic instruction to the nurses and was editor of the Edinburgh Medical Journal from 1873 to 1896. He was a devoted servant of the College being Secretary and Treasurer for a period of eleven years until 1887 when he became President. Bell is best remembered for his diagnostic prowess. He was an excellent clinical teacher with a flair for making lightning diagnoses in his out-patient clinics. His acute powers of observation inspired one of his pupils, Arthur Conan Doyle, with the model for Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle wrote: ‘It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes although, in the stories, I have the advantage of being able to place him in all sorts of dramatic situations’. Bell, who was President at the time, can also be seen in the 1889 painting of a College meeting by Hay.

Production date 1896 - 1896

Production periodNineteenth century, late

Object nameJoseph Bell (1837-1911), Portrait

Object categoryArtworks

MaterialOil, Canvas

Dimensions

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