Scot Med J
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Biography Historical Article
Hans Christian Andersen's visit to James Young Simpson.
Preparations are currently underway in Denmark for the celebration in 2005 of the 200th anniversary of the birth of that country's illustrious son Hans Christian Andersen. The renowned author of fairy tales had a passion for travel and recorded in his diary and in the several editions of his autobiography his encounters with the dignitaries and celebrities of his day. On this anniversary we recall the little-known occasion on which Hans Andersen was entertained to dinner and to a demonstration of the effects of inhalation of ether at the home of James Y. Simpson.