Dr. John Warren was a surgeon during the American Revolution and later the founder of Harvard Medical School.
From RR Auction
Tools in Warren's Revolutionary War-era amputation kit were recently auctioned for $104,000. These were commonly used to remove limbs that had been devastated by injury or infection.
From RR Auction
The two amputation kits were sold by Boston-based RR Auction.
From RR Auction
One of Warren's kits was bound in shark or ray skin and contained tools such as a pair of small bullet forceps and a blade for an amputation saw.
From RR Auction
A second kit was made with mahogany. It has a handwritten 19th-century label that reads, "Used during the Revolutionary War by Dr. John Warren."
From RR Auction
A handwritten card reads "Revolutionary Instruments given by Joseph Warren to John Warren to John C. Warren to Henry J. Bigelow. Copy of letter describing them in possession of J. Collins Warren." Dr. John Collins Warren was Warren's son, the first editor of the New England Journal of Medicine.
