Biography

John Pringle. (1707-1782)

physician and philosopher. He was a friend of Boswell's father, and of Benjamin Franklin, among others. Although a Doctor of Physic from Leyden University (which Alexander Boswell also attended - at the same time?), in 1734 he became Professor of moral philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. In 1744 he was appointed physician-general to the armed forces in the Low Countries. In 1752 he married a daughter of Dr William Oliver, and also published Observations on the Diseases of the Army. In 1766 he was made a baronet. In 1772 he was elected president of the Royal Society. He died in London on January 18, 1782. He is honoured with a monument in Westminster Abbey.

Sir John is considered to be the founder of modern military medicine.

Life with James Boswell:

Dr. Pringle is first mentioned in the journals, when Boswell dined at his place in London on Sunday November 21, 1762. Although mostly a friend of Boswell's father, Pringle did seem to have a better understanding of James, and sometimes served as an intermediary between the two. Boswell thought Pringle often to be in a bad mood (LJ 24/11-62), which seems to fit nicely with Mote's engraving of him, depicted on the right.

Pringle and Boswell met and corresponded somewhat more than occasionally from the early 1760s until Pringle's death in 1782.

External links:

• "Why a hatred for Dr. Pringle?" - Article about Dr. Johnson's dislike for John Pringle
• Sir John Pringle - at LoveToKnow

Literature:

His works doesn't seem to have been reprinted for a couple of centuries, but it is possible to find some original copies from the 18th century of Observations on the Diseases of the Army at the Abebooks used books search engine. Prices are from ca. £100 and upwards. It is also possible to find a few copies of A Discourse Upon Some Late Improvements of the Means for Preserving the Health of Mariners (price £21000 and upwards!)

(Be sure not to confuse Sir John Pringle with John R. Pringle who is a present day biologist, or John J. Pringle, an economist)

This article was last updated at February 16 2008 21:50:53 CET

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