04/11/2026
Voices from the Vault: A 1942 Letter Discovered Inside a 1735 Medical Book
While examining our 1735 edition of Herman Boerhaave’s Opera Omnia Medica, I located an additional item of interest: a typed letter placed behind the front board. The letter was sent from Caracas, Venezuela, in January 1942.
The writer, Ensign Homer Brett, Jr., Assistant Naval Attaché, stated that he had obtained the volume “on the streets of Caracas” and wished to return it to the University of Virginia, his alma mater. He also requested that the book be presented to Dr. John Lloyd Newcomb, who served as the University’s president from 1931 to 1947.
Brett’s letter reflects the historical circumstances of early 1942, shortly after the United States entered World War II. He noted the uncertainty of military service at that time and expressed the hope that future readers would recognize the efforts of Virginians serving abroad.
More than eighty years later, the letter remains intact within the volume, offering useful context regarding the book’s provenance. The discovery provides additional documentation of the book’s movement from Europe to Venezuela, then to the University of Virginia’s Rare Book Room, and now in Historical Collections & Services.
This finding contributes to another piece of information about the history of this 1735 Boerhaave edition and its preservation.
Written by Tricia Roche, Historical Collections & Services Graduate Intern
