[Ads-l] Further Antedating of "Mad Scientist"

[Peter Reitan]

A book entitled "The Mad Scientist" was published in 1908.  Written by two men from Shediac New Brunswick, E. R. McDonald and Raymond Leger, under the pseudonym, Raymond McDonald.

An article from a Moncton NB newspaper quotes reviews from several big-city newspapers including the Boston Globe and the New York Times.

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-moncton-transcript/203036132/

The quoted NYT review refers to the main character as "a scientist gone mad enough to be very dangerous, but not to be in the least handicapped in his marvelously inventive powers."

The book is available on HathiTrust.

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Subject: Re: Further Antedating of "Mad Scientist"

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Great citation for "mad medical scientist", John. Nice work everyone.
John and JL mentioned H.G. Wells's character Dr. Moreau. Here is 1919
citation in which Dr. Moreau is called a "mad biologist".

Date: October 19, 1919
Newspaper: The Sun
Newspaper Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Article: Man Half-Soled
Quote Page 3, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-madbiologist/203085306/

[Begin excerpt]
In the dear dead days beyond recall, before Mr. H. G. Wells became a
prophet, he described the island of Dr. Moreau, where a mad biologist
created numberless monsters by transposing the parts of ordinary
animals.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Tue, Aug 4, 2026 at 4:56=E2=80=AFAM John M. Baker
<0000192d2eeb9639-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
>  This is not the pulp fiction version of a mad scientist that Jonathan wa=
s looking for, but it does appear to me to be the modern term:  "Yes, it is=
 an experiment.  But it will prove to be an experiment that will cost the v=
ery life of the Republican party.  It will be like the experiment of the ma=
d medical scientist of whom I read in boyhood.  He killed a human body to h=
ave a vivisection, and to test whether by putting the various parts togethe=
r, he could not vivificate it."
> The Stark County Democrat (Canton, Ohio), June 21, 1877, at 1 col. 4 (New=
spapers.com).
>
> John Baker

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