THE VACCINATION IMPOSTURE: ITS INFLICTION A CRIME. by Gernerd, J.M.M. (1836-1910) - 1906.

Williamsport, PA: Press of the Gazette and Bulletin, 1906., 1906.. Very good. FIRST EDITION OF THIS RARE EARLY 20TH CENTURY ANTI-VACCINATION PAMPHLET - Octavo, 9-1/4 inches high by 6 inches wide. Softcover, bound in printed gray wrappers. The covers are soiled and slightly stained with a crease to the top corner of the front cover and a short tear to the bottom edge of that cover. The head and tail of the spine are chipped with a tear along the bottom of the spine. 52 pages. An original partially printed vaccination slip, printed on yellow paper, certifying that the recipient has been vaccinated on October 8, 1906, is attached with a paper clip to the title page with a resulting stain from the paper clip to the top of the second page. Very good.

First edition. RARE.

According to a summary in the July 7, 1906 issue of Publisher's Weekly, Vol 70, No. 1: "The writer is a physician in Muncy, Pa., who began practice 50 years ago. He regards vaccination as a shallow superstition equal to the belief in spooks. He claims vaccination must be got out of politics, and that no candidate who wants to be a lawmaker should get a vote unless he is opposed to compulsory vaccination."

It is with irony that one reads Dr. George Gregory's blurb, printed on the front cover given, that as a result of vaccination, the last naturally occurring case of smallpox was recorded in 1977 and the disease was considered eradicated by 1980. Dr. Gregory wrote at the time that "The idea of extinguishing smallpox by vaccination is as absurd as it is chimerical."