Donovan James McCune

Donovan James McCune
Dr. Donovan McCune circa 1970
Born 24 June 1902
Bellefontaine, OH
Died 11 April 1976 (1976-04-12) (aged 73)
Vallejo, CA
Alma mater Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (MD, 1928)
Occupation Pediatrician
Years active 1933–1966
Known for pioneering research on McCune-Albright syndrome
Spouse(s) Mary Adams, MD
Parent(s) Christopher and Laura (née Miller) McCune
Avocational Pursuits
Academic work
Main interests Rare book collecting Letterpress printing

Donovan James McCune (June 24, 1902 – April 11, 1976) was an internationally renowned pediatrician who conducted pioneering research on McCune–Albright syndrome.[1] Dr. McCune was also a collector of rare books including many incunabula and a devotee of letterpress printing. He was born in Bellefontaine, OH to Christopher James McCune (1868–1955)[2] and Laura Miller McCune. While married to Mary Adams M.D. from October 14, 1932 until 1951, the couple had no children. From 1951 until his death in 1976, he resided in Vallejo, CA .[3]

Early years

McCune graduated in 1920 from St. Rose High School (Lima, OH), and then attended the University of Dayton (Dayton, OH) from 1920–21. McCune graduated with an A.B. degree in 1924 from Georgetown University (Washington, DC), and obtained an M.D. degree in 1928 from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD). Dr. McCune once wrote: "Georgetown has meant many things to me: I shall name only two: a durable interest in public speaking, and a devotion to the Latin language and literature. These still constitute my most absorbing avocation, not only supplying intellectual recreation, but also providing focus for book collecting, fine printing, and bookbinding".[3]

Medical career (1933–1966)

McCune was an intern at the Willard Parker Hospital (NY, NY) in 1928 for two months and then went to the Harriet Lane Home at Johns Hopkins Hospital (1928–29). He became resident physician in Pediatrics and Contagious Disease at Cincinnati General Hospital in Ohio (1929–30) before taking the position of resident physician at Babies Hospital, New York City (1930–1934). In 1933, he became a member of the attending staff at Babies Hospital and attending physician there from 1942–51. He was its Director of Chemical Laboratory during the same period. Dr. McCune also was Chief of Clinic at the Vanderbilt Clinic, NY (1933–42)[3]

McCune was a consultant in pediatrics at Greenwich Hospital (1943), Greenwich, CT; Holy Name Hospital (1946–52), Teaneck, NJ; and Stamford Hospital (1947–52), Stamford, CT.

After twenty years in the academic/teaching field, he decided to again become more involved in pediatric practice. In 1951, McCune began to work as a physician for Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Vallejo, CA. McCune held the position of Chief of Pediatrics and Physician-in-Chief from 1953–1965. In 1965, he was appointed to serve as the staff assistant to Cecil Cutting, M.D., Executive Director of the Permanente Medical Group in Oakland, CA. Dr. McCune also became a consultant in pediatrics for the U.S. Naval Hospital Mare Island (1957–58) and David Grant Hospital, Travis Air Force Base (1966–68).

Dr. McCune was internationally known and some have called him one of the “fathers of American pediatrics.” He was involved in two international medical missions: 1) 1946 Unitarian-UNRRA Medical Mission to Poland, and 2) 1948 Unitarian Service Committee Medical Mission to Columbia.

Medical teaching

Dr. McCune was Associate in Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University 1931–37. He then held the positions of Assistant Professor (1937–1942), Associate Professor (1942–44), Professor in 1944, and Member of the Faculty of Medicine at Columbia University (1945–51).

McCune-Albright Syndrome

McCune–Albright syndrome (MAS) is a genetic endocrine disease affecting the bones and pigmentation of the skin. It was described independently by both Dr. Donovan J. McCune and Dr. Fuller Albright in 1937.

Dr. McCune also wrote over thirty articles for medical publications and contributed to the Childcraft Encyclopedia (1946 and 1954) and Encyclopedia Americana (1955). In addition, he coauthored M.B. Howorth’s Textbook of Orthopedics[4] (1952).

Awards, clubs and societies

In 1924, he was the Hamilton Debate winner. This was given to the best extemporaneous speaker in the annual debate put on by the Philodemic Society of Georgetown. While at Johns Hopkins, he was a member of the Pithotomy Club. The Club’s constitution stated its objective-“the promotion of vice among the virtuous, virtue among the vicious, and good fellowship among all.” While living in New York, he was a member of the Harvey Society, whose stated purpose was to establish a closer relationship between the purely practical side of medicine and the results of laboratory investigation. It set up a series of lectures on the life sciences.

Public service

Dr. McCune joined the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce in 1957 and became the Chairman of its Committee on Public Relations for 1959–60. Then, starting in 1960, he became a member of the Board of Directors, Solano County Legal Aid Society. As such, in 1965 he also served on the Solano County Council of Economic Opportunity, as a representative of the Solano County Legal Aid Society.

Library volunteer work and book collecting

In 1961, McCune was appointed by the Vallejo City Council to the Vallejo Public Library Board. In 1966, he was reappointed to another five-year term. In 1968, he joined the California Library Association. He was a leader in the fund-raising efforts for a new library in Vallejo. The John F. Kennedy Library's ground breaking took place on September 4, 1968, which was commemorated by Dr. McCune in a broadsheet he printed using his own hand press.

McCune was a true bibliophile and his collection reflected his wide range of interests: Latin and Greek literature; printing in all its aspects (ink, paper, movable type and binding); special fine printers (e.g., Grabhorn Press, Plantin Press, Nonesuch Press, Henry Evans, John Henry Nash, Valenti Angelo, etc.); Californiana; and limited-edition publications of the Book Club of California. He was a collector par excellence, interested in the material for itself and the knowledge and skill it reflected. For this reason, his collection was much more than books. It also included extensive magazines on the printing arts (e.g., The Fleuron, The Bookbinder, The Book-Collector’s Quarterly, The Colophon, Imprint, The Monotype Recorder, etc.) and ephemera from fine printing presses.

Public speaking and writing (1963–1968)

McCune enjoyed discussing books and printing. On March 15, 1963, he gave a talk at the Roxburghe Club on collecting Latin classics. Another one of his talks took place on May 18, 1965, again in front of the Roxburghe Club. This was a discussion on “Les Barbou; Imprimeurs. Lyon-Limoges-Paris. 1524–1820.”[5] This was subsequently published as an article in the Quarterly New letter of the Book Club of California Spring (1966). A year later, he wrote another article: “Henry Morris: Printer, Papermaker, Bookbinder, Writer, Publisher,”[6] which appeared in the Book Club of California Quarterly News-Letter (Summer 1967). He was also a guest speaker of the Rotary Club on January 11, 1968. He spoke on the history of printing and exhibited some of his rare books and examples of early printing. He was known for his erudite use of the English language.

Bookbinding

Another chief hobby of McCune's was bookbinding. Dr. McCune first took this up in 1960 as a way to save money. He obtained some how-to manuals on the subject and taught himself the art. By June 1963, he had done over 200 volumes and about 100 cases to contain the valuable items in his collection. He would rebind many of his favorite books in leather. In addition, Dr. McCune would often request unbound copies of books, pamphlets, and other materials from printers so that he could do the binding himself. He would stamp the spine of his rebound books with his personal mark – a gold beagle with the inscription “Beagle Press,” named in honor of his pet beagle named You-You.

McCune would rebind the material in full leather and other times in leather combined with special papers. He then would mark these rebound books with gold lettering “Religavit McCune” (i.e., tied on or fastened behind by McCune) followed by the date. It was related by Roger Levenson that a personal note in one of Dr. McCune’s hand-bound books was “Bound with much pleasure but little skill.”

Printing

Dr. McCune started his own hand-printing press enterprise early in 1968. As the ritual gift upon retirement from Kaiser Permanente, he elected an Adana Horizontal Quarto Printing Press. He described his early foray into hand-printing: “Early in this new career – now three months old – I printed an apprentice-piece, Ad Dante,[7] embodying the only Latin verses I have ever had the nerve to write – and that nearly fifty years ago. The presswork was atrocious.” He then took lessons from Roger Levenson at the Tamalpais Press. Henry Morris of The Bird & Bull Press, advised McCune to change his type of ink, his paper, and to get another type of press. Morris correctly predicted that McCune would soon outgrow his small press.

Then in July 1968, Dr. McCune obtained an Albion Hand Press. The Albion press was manufactured of iron and steel at London in 1852 by Hopkinson & Cope – the latter having invented it around 1820. The press received the number 3294. It was a demy size (24 x 28 inches) at the platen. This was a very heavy and large machine. It stood approximately 6 foot six inches in height and weighed just under 2000 pounds. Since the Albion was so large and Dr. McCune was only about five foot six inches tall, he had a platform built on which he could stand to operate the press. The plumed finial on top frequently sported a beret to add to the informality of McCune’s printing “establishment”. The kitchen contained the two presses and an iron inking stand; the type cases were kept elsewhere. The Adana press rested on a sideboard. He used both these presses to print various hand-made publications and broadsheets. Although he enjoyed printing, he wrote in one letter that when he printed a 100 copies of a single broadsheet (as he did for the Roxburghe Club), he found it exceedingly tedious.

Death and Legacy

Dr. McCune died on April 11, 1976 in Vallejo, California. He bequeathed all of his rare books, printing presses, and bookbinding tools to the City of Vallejo.[8] The entire McCune Collection of art and rare books is now housed in the specially designed "McCune Room" of the JFK Library.[9] In 1988 the Roxburghe Club of San Francisco and the Zamorano Club commemorated a re-awakening of the Beagle Press by hand printing The Beagle Press Recidivus[10] in a limited run of 250 copies. The first 125 copies were printed as keepsakes for visiting members of the Roxburghe and Zamorano Clubs to the McCune collection in the Vallejo Public Library on October 1, 1988. It was designed and printed by Roxburghers Al Newman, Gordon Williams, and Thomas Woodhouse on the McCune Collection's Albion hand press.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "McCune-Albright syndrome". Genetics Home Reference. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Christopher McCune". Find A Grave. Robert "Rob" Weller. Retrieved 30 September 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 Innes, Ken F. IV (2007). "Biography of Dr. Donovan J. McCune". McCune Committee. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Howorth, M.Beckett (1952). A Textbook of Orthopedics. Philadelphia: W.B.Saunders.
  5. ↑ McCune, Donovan (Spring 1966). "Les Barbou Imprimeurs". Book Club of California Quarterly News-letter 31 (27-36).
  6. ↑ McCune, Donovan (Summer 1967). "Henry Morris : printer, paper maker, bookbinder, writer, publisher". Book Club of California Quarterly News-letter. XXXII (3): 53–59.
  7. ↑ McCune, Donovan (1968). Ad Dante: A Eulogy in Iambic Pentameter (First ed.). Vallejo, CA: The Beagle Press.
  8. ↑ "Chapter 3.30 - McCUNE COLLECTION ENDOWMENT FUND". MuniCode. Municipal Code Corporation. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Heather Ah San. "Library houses large collection of rare books, printing tools". Daily Republic. Foy McNaughton. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Newman, Al; Williams, Gordon; Woodhouse, Thomas (1988). Beagle Press Recidivus. Vallejo, CA: Beagle Press.
  11. ↑ "The Beagle Press recidivus". OCLC WorldCat. OCLC. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
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