Benjamin Rush, the Yellow Fever, and the Rise of Physician Autobiography

Speaker: Dr Catherine Jones (University of Aberdeen)

This talk examines the links between Benjamin Rush’s autobiography ‘Travels through Life’ and his protracted feud with the English journalist, politician and agriculturalist William Cobbett. The rhetorical strategies used by Rush to defend his character and medical practice, and the influence of his autobiography on later physician-writers are also explored.