Text: Edgar Allan Poe and Thomas Ollive Mabbott, “John W. Francis” The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Vol. IV: The Literati of New York City (2026), pp. 27-28 (This material is protected by copyright)

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JOHN W. FRANCIS.(1)

Doctor Francis, although by no means a littérateur, cannot well be omitted in an account of the New York literati. In his capacity of physician and medical lecturer he is far too well known to need comment. He was the pupil, friend and partner of Hossack(2) — the pupil of Abernethy(3) — connected in some manner with everything that has been well said or done medicinally in America. As a medical essayist he has always commanded the highest respect and attention. Among the points he has made at various times, I may mention his Anatomy of Drunkenness, his views of the Asiatic Cholera, his analysis of the Avon waters of the state, his establishment of the comparative immunity of the constitution from a second attack of yellow fever, and his pathological propositions on the changes wrought in the system by specific poisons through their assimilation — propositions remarkably sustained and enforced by recent discoveries of Liebig.(4)

In unprofessional letters Doctor Francis has also accomplished much, although necessarily in a discursive manner. His biography of Chancellor Livingston, his Horticultural Discourse, his Discourse at the opening of the new hall of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, are (each in its way) models of fine writing, just sufficiently toned down by an indomitable common sense.(5) I had nearly forgotten to mention his admirable sketch of the personal associations of Bishop Berkeley, of Newport.(6)

Doctor Francis is one of the old spirits of the New York Historical Society.(7) His philanthropy, his active, untiring beneficence will forever render his name a household word among the truly Christian of heart. His professional services and his purse are always at the command of the needy; few of our wealthiest men have ever contributed to the relief of distress so bountifully — none certainly with greater readiness or with warmer sympathy.(8)

His person and manner are richly peculiar. He is short and stout, probably five feet five in height, limbs of great muscularity and strength, the whole frame indicating prodigious vitality and energy — the latter is, in fact, the leading trait in his character. His head is large, massive — the features in keeping; complexion dark florid; eyes piercingly bright; mouth exceedingly mobile and expressive; hair gray, and worn in matted locks about the neck and shoulders — eyebrows to correspond, jagged and ponderous. His age is about fifty-eight. His general appearance is such as to arrest attention.

His address is the most genial that can be conceived, its bonhommie irresistible. He speaks in a loud, clear, hearty tone, dogmatically, with his head thrown back and his chest out; never waits for an introduction to anybody; slaps a perfect stranger on the back and cells him “Doctor” or “Learned Theban;”(9) pats every lady on the head and (if she be pretty and petite) designates her by some such title as “My Pocket Edition of the Lives of the Saints.” His conversation proper is a sort of Roman punch made up of tragedy, comedy, and the broadest of all possible farce. He has a natural, felicitous flow of talk, always overswelling its boundaries and sweeping everything before it right and left. He is very earnest, intense, emphatic; thumps the table with his first [[fist]]; shocks the nerves of the ladies. His forte, after all, is humour, the richest conceivable — a compound of Swift, Rabelais, and the clown in the pantomime. He is married.(10)

[[Notes]]

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1. Dr. John Wakefield Francis, November 17, 1789 - February 8, 1861, was a delightfully whimsical gentleman, mixing learning and charity with humor. The Biographical Essay by H. T. Tuckerman, New York, 1855, is entertaining even today. He called many people “doctor,” once introduced Poe as “The Raven” to a party, and made remarks such as “How’d you like to be Byron?”

2. David Hosack (1769-1835) was the leading physician of his day in New York. John

3. Abernethy taught surgery at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London; Poe's M. Dupin referred to his wit.

4. The medical writings of Francis, are: Letter on Cholera Asphyxia, New York, 1832; Observations on the Mineral Waters of Avon, Livingston County, New York, 1834; Letter on Febrile Contagion, New York, 1816; and Use of Mercury, his dissertation, which caused interest in Europe. Justus, Baron von Liebig (1803-1873) was a great German chemist.

But no copy of his Anatomy of Drunkenness can be found. A book of that title by Robert Macnish came out at Glasgow in 1827 and was very popular, being often reprinted in Great Britain and America. Like Professor James B. Reece, who called the work to my attention, I think Francis claimed the authorship as a joke, but hesitated to declare the embarrassing truth when hew as unexpectedly believed. All accounts of the doctor seem to refer to this literary ghost.

5. His other writings include the biographical piece on Livingston in an “Address before the Philolexian Society,” May 15, 1831; his “Address before the New York Horticultural Society,” September 8, 1829, published the next year, and his “Discourse before the New York Lyceum,” New York, 1841.

6. The description of the work on Berkeley is very vague; it may have appeared in a periodical, but “views of a physician on a metaphysician” is the kind of joke Francis enjoyed. However, he contributed to the London edition of Rees’ Encyclopedia. Francis became a life member of the New York Historical Society in December 1811; he was librarian 1812-1818, and corresponding secretary 1847-1848.

8. Obviously Poe received no doctor's bills from Francis, when consulted, as we know he was on occasion.

9. “Learned Theba” is from King Lear, III, iv, 162.

10. Francis married Miss Maria Eliza of Boston, November 16, 1829.