Probate
records show what a person owned at the time of his or her death. You can
find these records in local or county depositories, where deeds are also
often stored. Benjamin Page's probate record shows us what books were in
Dr. Page's library when he died. We do not know whether he read every book
he owned, nor which he owned in 1794, when he was called to assist in the
Sewall delivery. It is likely, however, that he was familiar with the works
on birth instruments by Smellie, anatomy by Hunter and others, opium and
laudanum by Buchanan and others, and surgical procedures by several authors.
Interestingly, Dr. Page owned everything in the Page household except
his wife's clothes, even though Mrs. Page was still alive.
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