Koch, Robert. Autograph letter signed.

86. Koch, Robert. Autograph letter signed (“R. Koch”), 2 pages (4.5 x 7 in.; 114 x 178 mm.), in German, front and back, “Berlin C. Klosterstrasse 36”, 26 October 1888, written to “Dear Sir (City Planning Commissioner)” in Frankfurt, Germany. With original autograph transmittal envelope. Minor ink smudges; small separation on vertical fold of address overleaf.

Nobel Prize-winning founder of modern bacteriology, Robert Koch, writes a city planning commissioner about his report on river pollution.

Koch writes in full: Dear Sir (City Planning Commissioner), I presented H. E. Sydow, Director of the Scientific Deputation, with your request regarding my report on river pollution that I prepared for that deputation. H. E., however, denied your request, quoting that it was in conflict with the regulations of said Deputation, to let you have the report. In private, however, he lets you know herewith that if the minister will give his consent, the report as well as the decisions made on this subject by the meeting of the Scientific Deputation, will be published soon in the Quarterly Journal for Judicial Medicine and Public Healthcare (published by Enlenberg). R. Koch

Robert Koch was a celebrated German physician and pioneering microbiologist, known for his role in identifying the specific and causative agents of tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax and for giving experimental support for the concept of infectious disease. His research led to the creation of Koch’s postulates, a series of four generalized principles linking specific microorganisms to specific diseases that remain today the “gold standard” in medical microbiology. $2,500 - $3,500