W. P. (William Penn) Agnew

William Penn Agnew, often listed as W. P. Agnew, was a medical doctor and the author of Treatment of Hemorrhoids, and Other Non-Malignant Rectal Diseases. The edition preserved by Project Gutenberg identifies him as “W. P. Agnew, M.D.” and places him in San Francisco, where the book was printed in 1890.

In the book’s introduction, he explains that he wanted to present advice in plain, concise language for doctors who were likely to encounter these conditions in everyday practice. That practical tone gives a good sense of his approach as a writer: direct, clinical, and focused on helping readers treat difficult but common complaints.

Reliable biographical details about his life beyond this work are scarce in the sources I could confirm here. What can be said with confidence is that Agnew is remembered chiefly through this specialized medical text, which continued to circulate in later editions and has been preserved in modern digital archives.