CSA 9a, 10¢ milky blue (4 margins) tied by bold crisp CHARLESTON / S.C. // MAY / 16 cds on pristine cover front (no back) to Dr. J. J. Chisolm, Medical Purveyor, Columbia S.C.; other side CSA #11, 10¢ blue 4 margin copy tied neat GREENVILLE / S.C. double circle pmk addressed to Mrs. R. H. Strobel, Newberry, So Ca. This comes with a bio of the amazing Dr. Chisolm and will be the focus of one of my columns “The Confederate Post” in The American Stamp Dealer & Collector. Ex Henry Welch. $1,200. [SC]

Dr. John Julius Chisolm (1830-1903) was also known as Julian John Chisolm and J. J. Chisolm. He received his M.D. degree from the Medical College of the State of South Carolina in 1850 and continued his studies in Paris, with an emphasis on eye surgery. In 1859, he returned to Europe to observe the treatment of the wounded from European battles at that time. In 1861, shortly after the outbreak of the War, Dr. Chisolm published the first edition of A Manual of Military Surgery. Dr. Chisolm was appointed to the rank of surgeon in the Confederate Army on September 20, 1861. In November, 1861 he was ordered to Charleston to establish a medical purveyor's office for receiving and distributing medicines and surgical instruments to Confederate military physicians in the field and in hospitals. 

Following the war, Chisolm moved to Baltimore, Maryland to accept a special chair of eye and ear surgery created for him by the University of Maryland. He made many contributions to medicine and surgery in his teaching, his more than 100 professional publications, his inventions, and his founding of institutions. Chisholm was among the first to surgically remove cataracts and to use cocaine in eye surgery. He is considered one of the fathers of American Ophthalmology.