Robert Willis (1799, in Leith – 21 September 1878, in

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People * Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom *Barnes, London, England **Barnes railway station ** Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes Railway Bri ...

) was a Scottish physician, librarian, and medical historian.

Education

Willis was born at Leith of a good Edinburgh family. His father was Robert Willis, a merchant at Leith. He was educated at the High School of Edinburgh where he formed a lifelong friendship with his contemporary James Syme who became one of the greatest surgeons (LeFanu, 1974); Willis's sister married Syme, and their daughter, Agnes, married the pioneer of antiseptic surgery Joseph Lister. He graduated at Edinburgh (1819), went to 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 ...

(1823), the College of Physicians (1837), and was the first librarian of the College of Surgeons in London (1828–45).

Work as a librarian (1828–1845)

Willis compiled a catalogue of the books of the

which was published in 1831 (Cope, 1959)

Medical practice (1846–1878)

Willis lived and practised at The Homestead,

, in succession to Dr. John Scott, from 1846 till his death.

Family

Willis's son,

Robert Watson Willis Robert Watson Willis (26 July 1843 – 16 January 1892) was a British sportsman. He served as the second secretary of the Football Association from 1866 to 1867, succeeding Ebenezer Morley. He also served on the FA's committee from 1867 to 1872. ...

, served as secretary of the

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

, and built Hinxton House, East Sheen, in 1877.

Scholarly work

Willis is remembered for his scholarly translation from Latin of the complete works of William Harvey, published by the

Sydenham Society Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

in 1847 (Sykes, 2001).

Confusion with Robert Willis (1800–1875)

The acoustic work of another man with the same name, Robert Willis (1800–1875), is often mistakenly attributed to Willis. This is for instance the case in Robert Beyer's ''Sounds of Our Times: Two Hundred Years of Acoustics'' (1998). Sometimes, it is the other way round: Thierry Mandoul's ''Entre raison et utopie: l'Histoire de l'architecture d'Auguste Choisy'' (2008) erroneously gives the dates 1799–1878 for the Willis who worked in architecture.

Works by Willis

*Robert Willis: Translation of Spurzheim's ‘Anatomy of the Brain', 182
link
*Robert Willis: Translation of Pierre Rayer's 'Treatise on diseases of the skin', 1835 **''A theoretical and practical treatise on the diseases of the skin'
1845 edition
*Robert Willis: Urinary Diseases and their Treatment, 183
link
*Robert Willis: Illustrations of cutaneous disease, 1839–1841 *Robert Willis: On the Treatment of Stone in the Bladder, 1842 **(critical) Review by W.C., ''Dr. Willis on the Treatment of Stone in the Bladder'', Provincial Medical Journal and Retrospect of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 4, No. 7 (21 May 1842), pp. 133–13
link
*C. F. H. Marx and Robert Willis: On the decrease of disease effected by the progress of civilization, London, 184
link
*Robert Willis: Translation of Rudolph Wagner's ‘Elements of Physiology’, 184
link
*Robert Willis: The Works of William Harvey, M. D, London, 184
link
*Robert Willis: Translation of Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, 186
link
*Robert Willis: Benedict de Spinoza; His life, Correspondence, and Ethics, 187
link
*Robert Willis: Servetus and Calvin, London, 187
link
*Robert Willis: William Harvey, a history of the discovery of the circulation of the blood, 187
link

Other references

* Willis, Robert at ''Dictionary of National Biography'' *Roger Cooter: ''The Cultural Meaning of Popular Science: Phrenology and the Organization of Consent in Nineteenth-Century Britain'', 1985 (page 299 has a biographical notice) *Herman Goodman: ''Notable contributors to the knowledge of dermatology'', 1953 *Victor Cornelius Medvei: ''A history of endocrinology'', 1982 *''Proceedings of the Royal Medical & Chirurgical Society of London'' vol. viii, 1880, p. 390 *''The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle'': October 1833 – December 1834, 1973 *W. R. LeFanu: "Robert Willis – physician, librarian, medical historian", ''Proceedings of the XXIII International Congress of the History of Medicine'', London, 2–9 September 1972, Volume 2, 1974, p. 1111 *Alan H. Sykes: ''Sharpey's fibres: the life of William Sharpey, the father of modern physiology in England'', 2001 *Zachary Cope: ''The Royal College of Surgeons of England: a history'', 1959
Barnes history
*Charles R. Fikar, Oscar L. Corral: "Non-librarian health professionals becoming librarians and information specialists: results of an Internet survey", ''Bull Med Libr Assoc.'' 2001 January; 89(1): 59–67. *Robert Paterson
''Memorials of the life of James Syme, professor of clinical surgery in the University of Edinburgh, etc.''
1874

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Robert 1799 births 1878 deaths 19th-century Scottish historians 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 19th-century British translators Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Latin–English translators People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh People from Leith Scottish librarians Scottish medical historians Scottish translators