Hardbound prescription ledger with approximately 6,000 handwritten prescriptions attached to both sides of thick manila paper pages with adhesive; tan coloured canvas covers the exterior of the cardboard front cover, back cover, and semi-cylindrical wooden spine; red rectangular leather strips exte…
Hardbound prescription ledger with approximately 6,000 handwritten prescriptions attached to both sides of thick manila paper pages with adhesive; tan coloured canvas covers the exterior of the cardboard front cover, back cover, and semi-cylindrical wooden spine; red rectangular leather strips extend across the top and bottom of the covers and spine; a logo with four arrows pointing inward towards a geometric design appears in the centre of the spine; the pages are attached to the spine in groups of seven; prescriptions are written on pieces of paper that vary in size in blue, black, or green ink or grey graphite; approximately 147 prescriptions have letterheads; average of 17 prescriptions are attached to each page; 175 pages (double sided).
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Transferred from the Parks Canada Agency, via Gail Cariou of the Curatorial and Collections Branch.
Maker
W. T. & Co. (Whitall, Tatum & Co.)
Dates
1885
1898
circa 1885 - 1898
Date Remarks
Dates handwritten on the prescriptions; patent date printed on logo inside front cover
Material
paper: tan, brown, grey
fabric: tan, black
leather: red
wood: light brown, red
ink: blue, black, green, red, purple, gold
graphite: grey
Inscriptions
Printed on ledger spine: “PRESCRIPTIONS // 74701 // 80700”; printed logo with illustration of ledger inside front cover: “W. T. & Co. // ACME PRRESCRIPTIONS BOOK. // PATENTED // JUNE 30, 1885 // No. 30.”; hand written on spine: “74701 // [Illeg.]; hand written on ledger front cover: “74701 // to // 80698”; hand written inside back cover: “79521 // 76608 // [Illeg. signature]”; examples of three most common letterheads on prescriptions: “St. Lawrence Drug Store // R. D. STILES // DRUGGIST & APOTHECARY // PICTOU, N.S.” (appears 31 times); “George J. McKenzie, M.D., // Pictou, N.S.” (appears 19 times); “NEW GLASGOW, WESTVILLE AND STELLERTON, N.S. // Grant Bros. // Druggists and Pharmacists. // NEW GLASGOW. // Open on Sunday, 9.30 A. M. to 11 A. M. // 2 to 3 and 8.15 to 9.30 P. M. // Night Bell” (appears 17 times)
Permanent Location
Storage Room 2005
2005-1-7
Length
46.2 cm
Width
34.2 cm
Depth
11.8 cm
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Dimension Notes
Dimensions when the ledger is closed
Condition Remarks
Soiling to covers, spine, pages and prescriptions; tears and loss to cover and spine material; cockling and buckling of covers and pages; bleeding of red dye from leather to paper on covers and pages; separating of leather from the covers and spine; leather shows signs of red rot; yellowing and foxing on pages and prescriptions; several pages stuck together at the back of the ledger
Copy Type
original
Reference Types
Website
ebook
Reference Comments
“Fraser, James Daniel Bain,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography website. 1976. Accessed 14 May 2019.
“Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal Volume 22,” Canadian Pharmaceutical Association. 1898. Accessed 14 May 2019.
Research Facts
The ledger is from the James Daniel Bain Fraser Pharmacy (J. D. B. Fraser & Sons) in Pictou, Nova Scotia; James Daniel Bain was a prominent pharmacist during the nineteenth century in Pictou, N.S. and is recognized as the first to manufacture and use chloroform in a medical setting in Canada; the ledger was compiled at the pharmacy after Fraser’s death in 1869.
The ledger was manufactured by W. T. & Co. (Whitall, Tatum & Co.) and called the Acme Prescription Book, patented June 30, 1885; Whitall, Tatum & Co. also manufactured glassware and druggist sundries.