An invitation-reservation card for "An Evening with Dr. Christiaan Barnard" held in Trevose, Pennsylvania on September 29, 1975. The card is SIGNED by Barnard in bold, black marker.

The card measures about 4 3/8" x 3 3/8". It comes with the original envelope. The card is in very nice condition, as shown in the photos.

Christiaan Barnard (1922 – 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation. On December 3, 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident victim Denise Darvall into the chest of 54-year-old Louis Washkansky, who regained full consciousness and was able to talk easily with his wife, before dying 18 days later of pneumonia, largely brought on by the anti-rejection drugs that suppressed his immune system. Barnard's second transplant patient, Philip Blaiberg, whose operation was performed at the beginning of 1968, returned home from the hospital and lived for a year and a half.

Barnard retired as head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in Cape Town in 1983 after rheumatoid arthritis in his hands ended his surgical career. Later in his life, Barnard established the Christiaan Barnard Foundation, dedicated to helping underprivileged children throughout the world.

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Our father was a bibliophile who collected rare books, letters, and ephemera for more than 60 years. For now and into the foreseeable future, we will be listing rare paper items from his estate.

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