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The Archives of Ophthalmology Celebrates 2 Anniversaries140 Years of Continuous Publication and 80 Years of Affiliation With the AMA
James G. Ravin, MD, MS
Arch Ophthalmol. 2009;127(3):332-334.
The Archives of Ophthalmology and Otology began publication in New York in 1869. Simultaneously, a German language version was published in Carlsruhe, Germany, as the Archiv für Augen- und Ohrenheilkunde, with the articles sometimes mildly different. The editors were Hermann Knapp, MD (1832-1911), of New York, who practiced both ophthalmology and otology, with greater emphasis on the eye, and Solomon Moos, MD, of Heidelberg, an otologist. In their prospectus to the first issue, they stated that progress in these 2 specialties, especially the invention of the ophthalmoscope at midcentury, had already led to many practical applications and promised still more. Although medicine is international in scope, they remarked, there was no journal devoted to ophthalmology or otology in America; instead, articles concerning the 2 fields were published occasionally in general medical journals. The editors promised to "diffuse knowledge among the medical profession"1 and stimulate scientific investigation. Subscriptions to the new Archives were $7 per year (approximately $125 today) for 2 semiannual issues of about 300 pages each, and the content would be entirely original material. They warned readers to keep up with both fields; because the number of eye specialists had increased markedly during the past 10 years, "it will not be wise for the younger generation to rely with too much confidence on ophthalmic surgery exclusively."1 The market for the new journal was not large because there were only about 250 individuals with an interest in the eye in the United States, and far less in otology.2
A decade later, in 1879, the journal was split by specialties: the Archives of Ophthalmology and the Archives of Otology in the United States, with German editions, the Archiv für Augenheilkunde and the Zeitschrift für Ohrenheilkunde. The reasons behind the separation were described in the preface to the continued ophthalmological journal: "This division has been made, both for the convenience of many readers who practice either ophthalmic or aural surgery exclusively, and for the sake of doing justice to the growing importance of the literature in both departments."3 The editors promised to provide a high-quality publication that would give preference to "original papers in which speculation and theory are subordinate to direct observation and fact." They hoped to be able to state that, "Their greatest gratification will be to hear their readers continue to say: ‘What we read in your journal, we can make use of.’"3
Simultaneous publication of American and German versions of the Archives of Ophthalmology continued until 1921, when the 2 entities went forward under separate editorial boards. The German version survived through 60 volumes until 1937, when it was absorbed by Albrecht von Graefe's Archiv für Klinische und experimentale Ophthalmologie. The Archives of Otology ceased publication in 1908, and the Zeitschrift für Augenheilkunde ended in 1913. Knapp edited the Archives of Ophthalmology for 41 years, from its inception until his death at age 79 years, and he published more than 150 articles in the Archives alone. He continued to have considerable input into the German version after the split into American and German publications.
Knapp had been a young full professor of ophthalmology at the University of Heidelberg, had founded a large Augenklinic and Kranhenhaus there, and was the son of a former member of the German parliament. He thought the future looked brighter in the largest city in the United States following the Civil War than in the picturesque German college town, and he moved to New York in 1868. It was a bold move, and never before had a physician of such high scientific reputation and clinical experience emigrated to the United States.4 Knapp established the New York Ophthalmic and Aural Institute, which was modeled after his teacher von Graefe's clinic in Berlin. For the first time, the rich and the poor could receive the highest level of care at the same institution. It soon became the most important facility of its type in the New World and many of the best-known ophthalmologists in America trained there.
Not everything went smoothly for Knapp, however. He was a straightforward man with a strong Teutonic personality that was sometimes misinterpreted. Julius Hirschberg, the eminent ophthalmic historian who edited the German version of the Archives for several years, knew him well and described him in the following terms: "His republican openness, his uninhibited critical remarks which he offered freely and not always in a polite form, his sense of independence and integrity was offensive to many who were used to mutual admiration. His position and pride created sometimes in America a certain antagonism which was always an undercurrent, but it was directed against the foreigner."4 Several powerful leaders of ophthalmology in New York wrote a letter to the New York Ophthalmological Society charging Knapp with legal, ethical, and personal irregularities.5 The issues were soon resolved in Knapp's favor.
When Knapp died in 1911, his son, Arnold Knapp (1869-1956), became editor of the Archives. This was not a case of nepotism; the younger man was a highly respected ophthalmologist and professor at Columbia University. The junior Knapp was born in the same year as the Archives, 1869. Arnold Knapp edited the Archives for 38 years; added to the tenure of his father, the Knapps were editors of the Archives for an astounding total of 79 years. Arnold's son, Philip Knapp (1916-1991), also became an esteemed ophthalmologist. His primary interest was ocular motility and he published in the Archives, but he preferred to be a speaker rather than an editor.
Medical publishing can be precarious, and shortly after World War I many ophthalmic journals were in serious financial difficulty. In 1918, 6 separate journals joined to form the current American Journal of Ophthalmology (AJO). Arnold Knapp had been invited to have the Archives included, but declined the offer. A decade later the problem resurfaced.
The year before the stock market experienced its notorious 1929 crash, the most important ophthalmic publications in America prefigured this calamity and were failing financially. Francis Heed Adler, who followed Arnold Knapp as editor of the Archives, reported that "the number of journals devoted exclusively to ophthalmology had about reached the saturation point and in order to maintain the standards already set and to eliminate wasteful repetition serious consideration was being given to combining some of these separate efforts."6 This is a major understatement. On April 30, 1928, leaders of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, the American Ophthalmological Society, the Ophthalmic Section of the American Medical Association (AMA), and the editors of the Archives, AJO, and Ophthalmic Yearbook all petitioned the strongest force in American medicine, the AMA, asking that it take over all 3 publications. The petition, which was a declaration of dependence, was signed by many of the most prominent men in ophthalmology, including Arnold Knapp, Harry Gradle, George Derby, Edward Jackson, Walter Parker, and W. H. Wilmer. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the AMA met with several of them. He concluded that if the Archives and the AJO were to be taken over by the AMA and amalgamated, in all likelihood another group would establish a competing journal. He favored the AMA taking over the Archives and the Yearbook while leaving the AJO alone. Knapp and Gradle presented their views to the Board of Trustees, who voted to assume publication of the Archives and elected Knapp as Editor-in-Chief. A distinguished group of ophthalmologists was elected to serve with Knapp as the editorial board: George Derby of Boston, Francis Adler of Philadelphia, Sanford Gifford of Omaha, John Waite of Boston, and William Zentmayer of Philadelphia.
The first issue of the reconstituted journal was published 80 years ago, in January 1929. The cover states that it is "Volume 1," and the interior reads "Volume 1 (Old Series Volume 58)." The new journal was larger, containing about 1000 pages per volume and 2 volumes per year. Arnold Knapp continued the quality standard already established for the Archives and made few changes. He felt it was important to bring in articles from fields that have some overlap with ophthalmology; the first issue of the new Archives carried an article by the eminent neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing on meningiomas. Volume 1, issue 1 also contains classic articles by W. H. Wilmer on diseases of the eye in old age, Frederick Verhoeff on tuberculous choroiditis, Albrecht von Graefe on iridectomy in glaucoma, and Francis Heed Adler on retinal circulation. Succeeding issues of volume 1 contain papers by Henry ("Jullundur") Smith, the advocate of intracapsular cataract extraction who performed large numbers of operations in India on the nutrition of the lens and vitreous, Peter Kronfeld on regeneration of the aqueous, Arnold Knapp on macular degeneration, Foster Kennedy on ocular disturbances in encephalitis, C. S. O’Brien on akinesis in cataract surgery, Sanford Gifford on sympathetic ophthalmia, and Jonas Friedenwald on slitlamp ophthalmoscopy.
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Figure. The cover of the first issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology and Otology.
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When the Archives became affiliated with the AMA, Knapp enjoyed relief from concerns about the day-to-day aspects of printing, distribution, and advertising. Decisions about layout, illustrations, and composition of each issue were all made at the AMA headquarters in Chicago, which was controlled by the eloquent and imposing Morris Fishbein, MD (1889-1976), who edited the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) from 1924 to 1950. If Knapp disagreed with a decision made in Chicago, he would often phone Francis Adler in Philadelphia and deputize him to visit the authorities (Fishbein) to plead his case. In Adler's words, "I would journey to see Dr Fishbein by appointment and lay Dr Knapp's complaints before him as he sat at his desk, arms akimbo, partly reclining in a revolving desk chair, and smoking the inevitable cigar. He was always polite and most courteous and the answer was always the same. ‘Tell Dr Knapp, this is the way I wish it done.’ Instead of Caesar's boastful phrase, ‘I came, I saw, I conquered.’ I returned home saying, ‘I went, I saw, I was defeated.’"7
Adler edited the Archives from 1950 to 1960. He described his role humorously, quoting the British geniuses of comic opera, Gilbert and Sullivan, "A policeman's life is not a happy one."7 Once he even sent reviews of submissions to the wrong authors. The piece he wanted to reject received an acceptance letter, but the author he wished to accept received a note saying it was poorly organized, "totally incomprehensible and written in dreadful English, of which even a schoolboy would be ashamed."7
Two esteemed Bostonians were the next editors, David Cogan (1960-1966) and Henry Allen (1966-1976). Frederick Blodi was the editor from 1976 to 1984, and the centennial of the Archives occurred during his editorship. Looking back at the first year of the Archives, he reminisced, "Sometimes one wonders how much progress we have made, especially when reading an article such as the one by H. Knapp on the successful surgical removal of sarcomas of the iris by iridectomy."8 Morton Goldberg edited the Archives from 1984-1994, and Daniel Albert has been editor since that time. We look forward to many more anniversaries.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Correspondence: Dr Ravin, University of Toledo College of Medicine, 3000 Regency Ct, Toledo, OH 43623-3081 (jamesravin{at}bex.net).
Financial Disclosure: None reported.
REFERENCES
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1. Knapp H, Moos S. Prospectus. Arch Ophthalmol and Otol. 1869;1:3-7.
2. Snyder C. Archives of Ophthalmology: a 100-year anniversary. Arch Ophthalmol. 1969;81:605-611.
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3. Knapp H, Moos S. Preface. Arch Ophthalmol. 1879;8:preface.
4. Hirschberg J, Blodi FC. The First and Second Half of the Nineteenth Century: The History of Ophthalmology. Vol 9. Bonn, Germany: JB Wayenborgh Verlag; 1990.5. Truhlsen SM. The Knapps. Arch Ophthalmol. 2005;123(5):676-680.
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6. Adler FH. Archives of Ophthalmology. In: Fishbein M, ed. A History of the American Medical Association 1847-1947. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders Co; 1947:1161.7. Adler FH. The early years of the Archives. Arch Ophthalmol. 1978;96(12):2201-2202.
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8. Blodi FC. The first 100 years. Arch Ophthalmol. 1978;96(12):2201.
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