James Moores Ball

Trained as a physician, he earned his medical degree from the State University of Iowa in 1884 and later continued his studies in New York and Europe. He built his career in St. Louis, where he became a professor of ophthalmology at the St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons and later served as dean there.

Alongside his medical practice and teaching, he was known as a scholar, medical historian, and serious collector of rare books. Washington University’s Becker Library describes him as an eminent member of the St. Louis Medical Society and highlights his interest in the history of anatomy and medicine.

He is remembered today for medical works such as Modern Ophthalmology as well as for historical and unusual subjects, including The Body Snatchers. That mix of scientific expertise and fascination with the past gives his writing a distinctive character.