Benjamin Bell (1749–1806), a pioneering Scottish surgeon and father of the Edinburgh school of surgery, authored A Treatise on the Hydrocele, on Sarcocele, or Cancer, and Other Diseases of the Testes (1791). Known for his rational, scientific approach to surgery, Bell also wrote the influential A System of Surgery (1783–1788). He was closely connected withContinue reading “Benjamin Bell’s cancer treatise | featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room”
Tag Archives: rare medical books
The invention of the stethoscope and a featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room
This month, we highlight a book from the early 19th-century French physician who created the most iconic symbol of healthcare providers around the world. Assessing the condition of a patient in 1816, René Laënnec (1781–1826), rolled up a piece of paper to create a crude cone and proceeded to listen to the patient’s chest sounds.Continue reading “The invention of the stethoscope and a featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room”
Vegetable materia medica of the US | featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room
We present William Paul Crillon Barton’s (1786–1856) masterwork, Vegetable materia medica of the United States (1817–1818). Barton was a well-known naval surgeon, medical botanist, artist, and professor. He was born on Nov. 17, 1786, in Philadelphia, to a family filled with people who made important contributions to every aspect of the early United States. BartonContinue reading “Vegetable materia medica of the US | featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room”
Pioneering female physican Aletta Jacobs | Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room
This Women’s History Month, the John Martin Rare Book Room highlights a book from the pioneering 19th-century Dutch physician and activist Aletta Jacobs. Born in 1854 in the Netherlands, Jacobs chafed at the status quo and the limited educational opportunities for women in the Netherlands. She rejected the standard for Dutch girls at the time, “finishing school,”Continue reading “Pioneering female physican Aletta Jacobs | Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room”
Notes on Johann Christian Reil, the first psychiatrist, from the John Martin Rare Book Room
Reil, was an 18th-century medical multihyphenate: physician-anatomist-physiologist. He was also the first true psychiatrist by virtue of coining the term “psychiatry” (or “psychiatrie” in German). His contributions to anatomy include the first description of the arcuate fasciculus in 1809 and the identification of anatomical features such as Reil’s finger (later known as Raynaud syndrome) and the Islands of Reil in the cerebral cortex.Continue reading “Notes on Johann Christian Reil, the first psychiatrist, from the John Martin Rare Book Room”
Using snow for anesthesia | Book of the month from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library
BARTHOLIN, THOMAS (1616-1680). De nivis usu medico observationes variae. Printed in Hafniae [Copenhagen] by Matthias Godiche for Peter Haubold [bookseller], 1661. 16 cm tall. Born into a family of distinguished scientists and academics, Bartholin was the second of six sons of Caspar Bartholin the Elder, a prominent physician and anatomist. The Bartholin family, including Thomas’s brother ErasmusContinue reading “Using snow for anesthesia | Book of the month from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library”
19th Century Philippines Herbal | July 2024 Book of the Month from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library
BLANCO, MANUEL (1779–1845). Flora de filipinas. Printed in Manila at the Santo Tomas press, 1837. 21 cm tall. Manuel María Blanco Ramos was born on Nov. 24, 1779, in Navianos de Alba, a small village in the province of Zamora, Spain. Blanco grew up in Spain, influenced by King Charles III’s commitment to humanism andContinue reading “19th Century Philippines Herbal | July 2024 Book of the Month from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library”
John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library Open House 2022 Book List
Visit the John Martin Rare Book Room at Hardin Library for the annual open house, Wednesday, April 20, from 4pm-7pm. All are welcome/family friendly! Masks encouraged. This is an in-person event. The following books will be on display: BLEULAND, JAN (1756-1838). Otium academicum. Trajecti ad Rhenum: Ex Officina Joh. Altheer, academiae typographi, 1828. SABUCO deContinue reading “John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library Open House 2022 Book List”
John Browne | Myographia Nova | Dissection | Book of the Month from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library
By Damien Ihrig, Curator, John Martin Rare Book Room BROWNE, JOHN (1642-1700) Myographia nova, or, A description of all the muscles in humane body : as they arise in dissection : distributed into six lectures ; at the entrance into every of which, are demonstrated the muscles properly belonging to each lecture now in generalContinue reading “John Browne | Myographia Nova | Dissection | Book of the Month from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library”
December 2021 Book of the Month from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin | Early Italian Facial Plastic Surgery
TAGLIACOZZI, GASPARE(1545-1599). De curtorum chirurgia per insitionem. Apud Gasparem Bindonum, juniorem, 1597. 32 cm tall. Tagliacozzi studied under Girolamo Cardano at the University of Bologna. After graduating, he became a professor of surgery and anatomy at Bologna. This work, “Concerning the surgery of the mutilated by grafting,” is a classic in the history of plastic surgery and isContinue reading “December 2021 Book of the Month from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin | Early Italian Facial Plastic Surgery”