![Green monument St Mary, Monken Hadley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Green_monument_St_Mary%2C_Monken_Hadley.jpg)
Joseph Henry Green (1 November 1791 – 13 December 1863) (72 years) was an English surgeon who became the
literary executor
The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially completed wo ...
of
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poe ...
.
Life
Green was the only son of Joseph Green, a prosperous merchant, and was born at the house over his father's office in
London Wall
The London Wall was a defensive wall first built by the Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, and is now the name of a modern street in the City of London. It has origins as an initial mound wall and di ...
. His mother was Frances Cline, sister of
Henry Cline
Henry Cline (1750–1827) was an English surgeon and president of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was also a political radical, associated with leading supporters of the French Revolution, a farmer, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Life ...
, the surgeon. At the age of fifteen he went to Germany and studied for three years, his mother accompanying him. He was then apprenticed at the
College of Surgeons
The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...
to his uncle, Henry Cline, and followed the practice at
St. Thomas's Hospital. While still a pupil he married, on 25 May 1813, Anne Eliza Hammond, daughter of a surgeon, and sister of a class-fellow.
On 1 December 1815 he received the diploma of the
College of Surgeons
The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...
, and set up in surgical practice in
Lincoln's Inn Fields
Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...
, where he remained until his retirement to the country. In 1813 he had been appointed demonstrator of anatomy (unpaid) at St. Thomas's Hospital. In the autumn of 1817 he went to Berlin to take a private course of instruction in philosophy with
Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Solger, to whom he had been recommended by
Ludwig Tieck
Johann Ludwig Tieck (; ; 31 May 177328 April 1853) was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Early life
Tieck was born in Be ...
in London. He had already met
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poe ...
, who came to meet Tieck more than once at Green's house.
In 1820 he was elected surgeon to St. Thomas's Hospital, on the death of his cousin,
Henry Cline the younger. In 1824 he became professor of anatomy at the College of Surgeons, delivering four annual courses of twelve lectures on
comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species).
The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...
, using the textbook of
Carl Gustav Carus
Carl Gustav Carus (3 January 1789 – 28 July 1869) was a German physiologist and painter, born in Leipzig, who played various roles during the Romantic era. A friend of the writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, he was a many-sided man: a doctor, ...
. In 1825 he was elected
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
. In the same year he became professor of anatomy to the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
, then located at
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...
, where he lectured a year on anatomy in its relation to the fine arts. He retired from this post in 1852. From 1818 he had shared the lectureship first on anatomy and then on surgery at St. Thomas's with
Sir Astley Cooper
Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British surgeon and anatomist, who made contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the patholog ...
, who retired in 1825, and wished to assign his share of the lectures to his two nephews, Bransby Cooper and
Charles Aston Key
Charles Aston Key (1793–1849) was an English surgeon.
Life
Born in Southwark on 6 October 1793, he was eldest son of Thomas Key, a medical practitioner, and Margaret Barry; Thomas Hewitt Key was a half-brother by a second marriage. He was ed ...
. Green, who had paid Cooper £1,000 for his own half share, acquiesced, but the hospital authorities did not, whereupon Sir Astley started lectures in connection with
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre.
...
, which had up to that time sent its pupils to the medical school of St. Thomas's.
On the establishment of King's College in 1830, Green accepted the chair of surgery. He had a reputation, especially in
lithotomy
Lithotomy from Greek for "lithos" (stone) and "tomos" (cut), is a surgical method for removal of calculi, stones formed inside certain organs, such as the urinary tract (kidney stones), bladder (bladder stones), and gallbladder (gallstones), tha ...
, for which he always used Cline's
gorget
A gorget , from the French ' meaning throat, was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather collar to protect the thro ...
.
Coleridgean
Green met Coleridge in June 1817. A group calling themselves the "Friends of German Literature" invited Tieck, and they gathered at Green's house in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Through
James Gillman
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
, Green with Tieck and
Henry Crabb Robinson
Henry Crabb Robinson (13 May 1775 – 5 February 1867) was an English lawyer, remembered as a diarist. He took part in founding London University.
Life
Robinson was born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, third and youngest son of Henry Robinson (17 ...
visited Coleridge at
Highgate
Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross.
Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...
.
Green over the years spent much time in conversation with Coleridge, and in his ''Poetical Works'', Coleridge inserted two pieces of verse by Green (Pickering's ed. of 1847, vol. ii.), a tribute to friendship. Green was to be his
literary executor
The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially completed wo ...
, and he was so named in Coleridge's will. He was to dispose of manuscripts and books for the benefit of the family; but as many of the books (with annotations) would be necessary for the carrying out of another part of Green's executory duties, namely the publication of a system of Coleridgean philosophy, Green was asked, in so many words, to purchase the books himself, which he did. They were later widely dispersed, in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, a large number in the possession of Coleridge's descendants, and many others in private hands, both in the United Kingdom and in the United States. Accused in 1854 by
Clement Mansfield Ingleby
Clement Mansfield Ingleby (29 October 1823 – 26 September 1886) was an English Shakespearian scholar.
Early life and education
Clement Ingleby was born at Edgbaston near Birmingham, the son of a lawyer. Poor health – he was not expected to ...
in ''
Notes and Queries
''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inne ...
'' of withholding from publication works which Coleridge had left more or less ready for the press, Green wrote to explain what it was that he held in trust from Coleridge.
In the same year that Coleridge died (1834), Green's father also died and left him a large fortune. He then accepted Coleridge's legacy as an obligation. In 1836 he gave up his private practice in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and lived for the rest of his life at
Mount House, near
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
* Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
. Green's house in
Hadley is now home to
Mount House School. He resigned also in 1837 his chair at King's College, but retained for seventeen years longer (until 1852) the surgeoncy to St. Thomas's Hospital, and a share of the lectures on surgery for part of that time.
With a view to a Coleridgean synthesis, he undertook a course of reading, revived his knowledge of Greek, learned Hebrew, and worked on Sanskrit. An introduction by him to the ''Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit'' is prefixed to the edition of 1849.
Later life
![Family vault of Joseph Henry Green in Highgate Cemetery](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Family_vault_of_Joseph_Henry_Green_in_Highgate_Cemetery.jpg)
In 1835 the council of the College of Surgeons had chosen him for life into their body; he was elected a member of the court of examiners in 1846 (also a life appointment), and twice filled the office of president of the college (1849–50 and 1858-9).
In 1851, he served as a Juror
.e. for selecting the most significant or important exhibitsduring "The Great Exhibition", his area of expertise being surgical instruments and equipment.
In 1853 he was made D.C.L. at Oxford, on the occasion of
Lord Derby
Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...
's installation as chancellor. The
General Medical Council
The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public" by c ...
having been established by the Medical Act of 1858, Green became the representative on it of the College of Surgeons. Two years after he was appointed by the government president in succession to Sir B. Brodie, and held that office until his death.
Having suffered in his later years from
inherited gout, he had an acute seizure on 1 November 1863, and died in his house at Hadley on 13 December. According to his friend Sir John Simon, his last words were "Stopped.", referring to his own pulse
["After which, he in silence set his finger to his wrist, and visibly noted to himself the successive feeble pulses which were but just between him and death. Presently he said " stopped." And this was the very end." - ''Spiritual philosophy : founded on the teaching of the late Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Tome 1, page LIX'']
His wife survived him; he had no issue. He was buried in a family vault (plot no.5039) on the western side of
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
, on the left hand side of the main path between Comfort's Corner and the Egyptian Avenue.
Works
Previous to 1820 he had published anonymously 'Outlines of a Course of Dissections,' and in that year he enlarged the book into his 'Dissector's Manual,' with plates, said to have been the first work of the same kind or scope yet published. He wrote no original memoirs except a minor piece in ''Med.-Chir. Trans.'' xii. 46.
Two of his Royal Academy lectures, on 'Beauty' and on 'Expression', were published in the ''
Athenæum'' 16 and 23 December 1843.
The claims made by the Cooper family led to a quarrel. Green's part in it was a long pamphlet ('Letter to Sir Astley Cooper on the Establishment of an Anatomical and Surgical School at Guy's Hospital,' London, 1825), which stated the legal case.
He published, chiefly in ''
The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'', a large number of lectures, clinical comments, and cases. In 1832 he gave the opening address (published) of the winter session, taking as his subject the functions or duties of the professions of divinity, law, and medicine according to Coleridge.
In the College of Surgeons he advocated reforms; the amended constitution of 1843, providing for a new class of fellows and the election of the council by the fellows, was in accord with his views published in a pamphlet in 1841 ('The Touchstone of Medical Reform'). He had already published two pamphlets on medical education and reform: 'Distinction without Separation: a Letter on the Present State of the Profession,' 1831, and 'Suggestions respecting Medical Reform,' 1834.
As
Hunterian orator at the college in 1841 he gave before a distinguished audience an obscure address on 'Vital Dynamics,' an attempt to connect science with the philosophy of Coleridge. Re-appointed Hunterian orator in 1847, he supplemented his former Coleridgean exposition with another in the same vein on 'Mental Dynamics; or, Groundwork of a Professional Education.' He made little definite progress with the Coleridgean system; but before he died he compiled a work from Coleridge's marginalia, fragments, and recollected oral teaching, under the title 'Spiritual Philosophy, founded on the teaching of S. T. Coleridge,' which was brought out, in two volumes (1865), with a memoir of Green, by his friend and former pupil
Sir John Simon
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, (28 February 1873 – 11 January 1954), was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second World War. He is one of only three peop ...
. The first volume, of which the first chapter was dictated to Green by Coleridge himself, is occupied with a groundwork of principles; the second volume is theological.
References
*
External links
RCS page
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Joseph Henry
1791 births
1863 deaths
Burials at Highgate Cemetery
Medical doctors from London
19th-century English medical doctors
English surgeons
Fellows of the Royal Society
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Monken Hadley