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- Collection: Harvard Medical Library
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An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolæ Vaccinæ
The first edition of Edward Jenner's publication contains his evidence that inoculation with cowpox vaccine matter could be a preventive against smallpox. Pages 32-35 concern Case XVII, an eight-year-old named James Phipps, who was inoculated with…
Drawing of the head and neck, lateral view
This is one of the several hundred original drawings produced by H. F. Aitken and eventually published in Warren's handbook. The text accompanying this illustration states, "The side of the skull has been cut away; the brain has been removed leaving…
Scientific Exhibit in the New Buildings of the Harvard Medical School
During the course of the AMA meeting, demonstrations, lectures, models, photographs and slides, and other anatomical, pathological and scientific exhibits were all mounted in the amphitheaters, laboratories, and museum galleries of the new buildings.…
Invitation to Tea
Each afternoon during the American Medical Association's meeting in Boston, a musical tea was held on the new Medical School Quadrangle.
Map of Boston
Published in the May 5th issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, this map for attendees of the meeting graphically demonstrates the distance of the new Medical School campus from the center of Boston.
Analytical review of Jenner's "An Inquiry..."
This anonymous article, appearing in December 1798, is the first American publication to discuss the work of Edward Jenner.
Aristotelous
This is a rare early Greek edition of the collected medical and scientific works of Aristotle and contains texts on birth and death, youth and old age, respiration, divination, sleep, and memory.
Intern : now you are the physician!
Intern was developed by two physicians based on their experiences on the house staffs at Duke University and Johns Hopkins. The object of this unusual board game is for the intern to be the first to admit, diagnose, and treat all of his or her…
A group of deaf-mute families from Maine
As part of his research on deafness, Alexander Graham Bell made statistical analyses of the deaf-mutes and determined that deafness was hereditary and that the number of intermarriages between deaf-mutes was high and growing. He concluded that…
Laryngoscope placement in a newborn
Figure 33 from Obstetrical Anesthesia, Its Priciples and Practice, Bert B. Hershenson, MD demonstrates the first step in intubating a newborn—placement of the laryngoscope.
Insensibility during Surgical Operations Produced by Inhalation
On October 16, 1846, at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. John Collins Warren performed the first public operation on a patient under ether anesthesia administered by dentist William T. G. Morton. Dr. Henry Jacob Bigelow witnessed the event and…
Zabdiel Boylston Adams (1829-1902)
A graduate of Harvard Medical School in 1853, Zabdiel Boylston Adams enlisted in 1861, joining the 7th Massachusetts Volunteers as an assistant surgeon. He was later a captain with the 56th Massachusetts Volunteers. Adams was wounded at Orange…
World's Largest Tooth Now Owned by Harvard
In 1929, Boston newspapers ran some unusual articles on the latest acquisition of the Dental Museum. This was no human Tooth, but a mastodon's tusk estimated to be 50,000 years old. Over 11 feet long and weighing 300 pounds, it was one of the…
Address to students in physic
Two years after the opening the Medical School, this account, published by the Harvard Corporation in the Boston magazine, described the progress of the new institution. Anatomical study under John Warren was one of the foundations of the curriculum,…
Catalogue of Books in the Boston Medical Library, and the Rules and Regulations concerning the Same (1808)
The copy of the 1808 Catalogue belonged to Dr. John Collins Warren, who held the office of Librarian at this time. The emendations probably represent an inventory of the collection, along with printing corrections for a subsequent edition in 1810.
Catalogue of Books in the Boylston Medical Library (1824)
Before the formation of the Boston Medical Library, Harvard's Boylston Medical Library was the principal local collection not in private hands. The collection remained with the University in Cambridge after the Medical School removed to Boston in…
Insertion of nasopharyngeal airway
Figure 23 from Obstetrical Anesthesia, Its Priciples and Practice by Bert B. Hershenson, MD demonstrates the proper placement of an endotracheal tube.
A Treatise on Etherization in Childbirth, Title Page
The title page from A Treatise on Etherization in Childbirth, by Walter Channing, MD.
Dr. Channing was Professor of Midwifery and Medical Jurisprudence and Dean of the Faculty at Harvard Medical College. In 1832, he became a founder and chief…
A Treatise on Etherization in Childbirth, Page 1
First page of A Treatise on Etherization in Childbirth, by Walter Channing, MD. Dr. Channing was Professor of Midwifery and Medical Jurisprudence and Dean of the Faculty at Harvard Medical College. In 1832, he became a founder and chief physician of…
A Treatise on Etherization in Childbirth, Page 126
Page 126 from A Treatise on Etherization in Childbirth, by Walter Channing, MD, depicting a design for an ether delivery devise. Dr. Channing was Professor of Midwifery and Medical Jurisprudence and Dean of the Faculty at Harvard Medical College. In…
The natural method of cureing the diseases of the body, and the disorders of the mind depending on the body
This copy of the second edition of George Cheyne’s work on disease is a rare and notable survivor of the disastrous Harvard fire of 1762. On the night of January 24th, during a storm of snow and high wind, Harvard Hall, containing the…
Student Lecture Notes on Anatomy
Even the most renowned of neurosurgeons was once a first-year medical student, as illustrated by this volume of Harvey Cushing's notes on the anatomical lectures of Thomas Dwight. The Harvard Medical School student at this period attended anatomy…
A Journal of the Harvard Medical School Unit to the American Ambulance Hospital in Paris, Spring of 1915 / by Elliott Carr Cutler. [S.l.] : [s.n.] 1916?
Harvard's first involvement in World War I was staffing the American Ambulance Hospital in Neuilly during the spring of 1915; it was the second unit dispatched from the United States to the hospital. The Harvard Unit had a surgical staff, under…
The Parkman Murder : Trial of Prof. John W. Webster for the Murder of Dr. George Parkman
While few early photographs exist of the Harvard Medical School building on North Grove Street, considerable information about the structure and its interior can be found, ironically, in the published transcripts of the 1850 murder trial of John W.…
Philip Drinker first demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of an artificial respirator
Original notes on early experiments leading to the development of the iron lung
Curso de botanica medica
This is a second edition of Durañona’s basic textbook for the study of medicinal plants and their uses.
A hebdomadal reminiscence of diurnal events
James Arthur Emmerton (HMS 1858) of Salem used this diary every Sunday to record his experiences a student at Harvard Medical School from 1855 through 1857. He then returned to it to document life in the 23rd Massachusetts Volunteers during the…
Eugenical News
One of the early periodical publications devoted to eugenics, the Eugenical news started in 1916 and was, at various times, the official organ of the Eugenics Research Association and then the American Eugenics Society. Appearing monthly, the…
The Eugenics Review
The official organ for the Eugenics Society in England, The eugenics review first appeared in 1909 and was published continuously until this, its final volume under that title. In 1969, the publication was reformulated as the Journal of biosocial…
The physician's pulse-watch
English physician Sir John Floyer invented a watch to measure the rate of the pulse and here translates some relevant portions of the Specimen medicinae Sinicae("The Chinese art of Feeling the Pulse is describ'd; and the Imitation of their Practice…
Henry Jacob Bigelow at age 23
Image of Henry Jacob Bigelow in Paris in 1841.
The Illustrated Self-Instructor in Phrenology and Physiology
The Fowler brothers used The Illustrated Self-Instructor as both a popular handbook to phrenology and an advertising tool—the opening pages of each volume were used to record character assessments, such as this one for G. A. Hook, given by O.…
Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development
In the notes to the introduction of this work, which assembles and revises his writings since the publication of Hereditary genius, Galton coins the neologism which gave its name to a movement: “That is, with questions bearing on what is termed…
Warren's handbook of anatomy
The lineal descendant of John Warren and John Collins Warren, John Warren (1874-1928) received a degree from the Medical School in 1900; he became a professor of anatomy at Harvard and was noted for his dissection work. During the last years of his…
Some Account of the Medical School in Boston, and of the Massachusetts General Hospital
This brief promotional pamphlet describes the Harvard Medical School at its Mason Street location and also the clinical and surgical opportunities offered by the new Massachusetts General Hospital. The school and hospital both at this period would…
Course Schedule
As part of the reform movement at Harvard, the recommended medical degree course was extended from three years to four in 1880. Students could still finish the requirements for an M.D. in three years, and anyone who completed a fourth was granted the…
Description of the Physiological Laboratory
A large proportion of the new building on Boylston Street was devoted to laboratory space with adequate natural light. The Physiological Laboratory (“… intended to serve primarily as a laboratory of research, and secondarily as an…
Library of the Massachusetts Medical College
Harvard Medical School established a library of its own in 1816. This pamphlet of rules was printed and distributed to students following the collection's unification with the Boston Medical Library in 1819.
The Mirror
From 1912 until 1943, the Dental School had its own yearbook, The Mirror, analogous to the Medical School's yearbook, The Aesculapiad. The 1925 edition describes the Dental Museum and its holdings and includes photographs of the interior and the…
Announcement of the Dental School of Harvard University, Session 1868-69
This first annual catalog from the Dental School lists the faculty members and outlines the course of instruction. Among the qualifications for graduation may be seen the earliest reference to the existence of the Dental Museum: "He must also deposit…
Museum Catalog Entries
Each specimen in the Dental Museum was assigned a serial number and cabinet and shelf location. Sheets like these were used to record information about the item and its acquisition and were then bound together into formal catalogs.
Catalogue of the Specimens in the Museum of the Harvard Dental School
This volume functioned as an accession book for specimens acquired by the Museum through 1896. Items were assigned an ordinal number and shelf location as received, and the information was later transcribed into the formal catalog. The items listed…
Catalog entry for Oliver Wendell Holmes denture
This version of the Museum's catalog was in use from the 1890s through 1907.
Here among the entries for items of mechanical dentistry are specimens 1562 and 1565
Here among the entries for items of mechanical dentistry are specimens 1562 and 1565
A List of a Few of the Attractions of the Museum
A brief overview of some of the highlights of the Dental Museum collection indicates the scope and breadth of the collection.
Fine structure of an unusual intracellular supporting network in the Leydig cells of Amblystoma epidermis
The Department of Anatomy preserved a set of reprints of articles by its members for over fifty years. The article displayed here illustrates research with the electron microscope. This is the first article published by Elizabeth D. Hay from her…
The health-lift reduced to a science
The Reactionary Lifter was sold by the Health-Lift Company of New York as a muscle exercise and strength-building device, suitable for men and women. A testimonial letter by Holmes appears in this marketing brochure: “My three months’…
Poem delivered at Dartmouth College
In 1838, Holmes was offered the professorship of anatomy and physiology at Dartmouth and held that position for two years before joining the faculty of Harvard. He was also asked by the New Hampshire Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa to deliver a poem…
Teaching from the chair and at the bedside
At the opening of the term and the beginnings of debate over educational reform at the Medical School, Holmes gave this address to the students, partly in defense of the summer term of practical instruction over the formal lectures of the winter.…
Clinique de M. Louis
After studying medicine with James Jackson, Holmes continued his medical education in Europe, beginning in the summer of 1833. He studied with some of France’s most famous physicians, including Marjolin, Roux, Velpeau, and Andral; this is…
Memoranda of patients and cases treated
Little is known of Holmes’ private medical practice, but this volume of case notes derives from the period while he was on the Tremont School faculty and immediately following his research into the contagiousness of puerperal fever. The Judge…
Remarks on the case of Dr. Spurzheim
During the early 1830s, Holmes was enrolled at Harvard Medical School, but also sought tuition privately with Dr. James Jackson. Of Holmes, Jackson said to his son, “He can tell you much that is interesting. Do not mind his apparent frivolity and you…
The contagiousness of puerperal fever
Following his presentation on puerperal fever to the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, Holmes first published his findings in this journal in April 1843. The article was also reprinted in pamphlet form. The passage displayed here contains…
Homϗpathy, and its kindred delusions
Holmes delivered this critical address on homeopathy to the Boston Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge on February 16, 1842, and then published it with a companion lecture, "Medical delusions of the past," later that spring. Although Holmes…
Lectures on anatomy and physiology at Harvard Medical School
After receiving his medical degree from Harvard, Holmes was granted the Boylston Prize in 1836 for his essay responding to the question “How far are the external means of exploring the condition of internal organs to be considered useful and…
Hay fever
Comic illustrator Augustus Hoppin chronicles the travails of Mr. A. Wiper Weeps as he suffers from an attack of hay fever. In the plate on the right, both allopathy and homeopathy are seen as useless to him. Only a trip in a hot-air balloon for the…
Glances and Glimpses, or Fifty Years Social, Including Twenty Years Professional Life
Harriot Kesia Hunt
Autopsy of Dr. John Collins Warren (1778-1856)
John Barnard Swett Jackson was Harvard Medical School's first professor of pathological anatomy and first curator of the Warren Anatomical Museum. He published catalogues of the specimens in the museum of the Boston Society for Medical Improvement…
A Syllabus of the Lectures Delivered at the Massachusetts Medical College to the Medical Students of Harvard University
Harvard’s first professor of clinical medicine, James Jackson, found that the time spent with his students on the wards at Massachusetts General Hospital detracted from his formal lecturing, and so he published these brief notes of his lectures…
A Treatise on the Management of the Teeth
In addition to the collection housed in the library of the Dental School, there were also books, pamphlets, prints and pictures preserved in the Dental Museum, including this early text on Dentistry. The title-page engraving shows an inferior denture…
Fundamental psychological conceptions
To complement the oral history interviews of its C. G. Jung Biographical Archive, the Library collects actively in Jungian-related publications, such as this volume of transcripts of a series of lectures on dream analysis and the mind. A revised…
The Surgical Treatment of Facial Injuries
Among Dr. Kazanjians important contributions to the literature of plastic surgery is the textbook, The Surgical Treatment of Facial Injuries. Co-authored with Dr. John M. Converse, this textbook is considered a classic work in the field. This diagram…
Harvard and Its Surroundings
This 19th century guidebook to Harvard University describes the current—and overcrowded—conditions of the Medical School on North Grove Street as well as some of the collections of the Warren Anatomical Museum. A building on Cambridge Street was…
The North Grove Street Building
In 1847, Harvard Medical School erected a new building, on North Grove Street, adjoining Massachusetts General Hospital, on land donated by Dr. George Parkman—whose body would all too soon be found buried beneath it. The school building itself…
Plate 1 from De l'auscultation médiate
Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laënnec (1781–1826) was a French physician who invented the stethoscope in 1816. This illustration of his design for a monaural stethoscope is from his book about auscultation, called De l'auscultation médiate.
Mémoires de la P. de Sales Laterrière et de Ses Traverses
Pierre Laterrière, who first studied medicine under M. de la Rochambeau in France, came to Harvard and received the degree of Bachelor of Medicine in 1789. He went on to practice medicine in Canada. Laterrière’s Mémoires,…
An act to protect the sepulchres of the dead.
Photostat copy of the State of Massachusetts' "An Act to Protect the Sepulchres of the Dead." Act was approved by the Governor on March 2, 1815.
Report of the Select Committee of the House of Representatives ... Legalizing the Study of Anatomy
This state report provided key arguments for the repeal of the 1815 Act to Protect the Sepulchres of the Dead by the Massachusetts Legislature and so legalized dissection of human bodies for anatomical study. Dr. John Collins Warren, stressing the…
An act in addition to "An act more effectually to protect the sepulchres of the dead, and to legalize the study of anatomy in certain cases"
Photostat copy of "An act in addition to "An act more effectually to protect the sepulchres of the dead, and to legalize the study of anatomy in certain cases""
"The empty sleeve : or, The life and hardships of Henry H. Meacham, in the Union army / by himself."
Henry H. Meacham, a former carriage-maker in Massachusetts, joined the 32nd Massachusetts Volunteers; his arm was blown off by a shell near Petersburg in June, 1864. He printed and sold this pamphlet to make a living for himself and his ailing wife.…
Medical Lectures
Dr. John George Metcalf of Mendon attended Harvard Medical School and used this notebook during the lectures of Drs. John Collins Warren, Jacob Bigelow, and Walter Channing. The notebook also served as Metcalf’s diary, and his account of life at…
A Collection of Papers Relative to the Transactions of the Town of Milton
The Selectmen of Milton, Massachusetts, assembled, published, and distributed this assortment of documents to prove the efficacy of vaccination against smallpox and encourage towns throughout the state to establish vaccination programs. Through the…
The Museum of the Harvard Dental School
George Howard Monks, the professor of oral surgery in the Dental School, presented an overview of the Dental Museum and its holdings to the Boston Medical History Club in March, 1925. The paper was then printed in the Harvard Alumni Bulletin and…
A Discourse upon the Institution of Medical Schools in America
The first book to be published on medical education in America was written by Dr. John Morgan, who founded the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, the nation’s first medical school, in 1765. This particular copy is notable for…
A history of George W. Murray, and his long confinement at Andersonville
A pattern-maker in Springfield before the outbreak of the Civil War, George W. Murray was taken prisoner, along with his three elder brothers, after the battle of Spotsylvania and confined to the infamous Confederate prison at Andersonville. He…
Correction of Midfacial Deformities
Published in 1971 in Surgical Clinics of North America, this article, written by Joseph E. Murray , M.D., Lennard T. Swanson, D.M.D., Melvin Cohen, D.M.D., and Mutaz B. Habal, M.D., illustrates the interdisciplinary nature of the diagnosis and…
Compulsion, the key to collectivism
Following U.S. Senate Committee on Education and Labor hearings on a proposed National Health Bill in 1946, the National Physicians Committee produced this pamphlet to warn against the danger of compulsory health care as a threat to the American way…
The principles and practice of medicine
In the first edition of his monumental textbook, Sir William Osler advocates the use of acupuncture for sciatica and, as here, lumbago "in acute cases, the most efficient treatment…. I can corroborate fully the statements of [Sydney] Ringer,…
Hymn 283
The so-called "Harvard Hymn" was sung by the Alumni Chorus at the Academic Session of the Dedication on September 26th. It was composed by John Knowles Paine, the University's late professor of music.
The Bibring Seminar
The article highlights the previous seven years of the seminar, with a focus on Dr. Bibring’s personal experience and the issues that are confronted during the group sessions.
Reactivation of the Dight Institute, 1947-1949: Counseling in human genetics
Physician Charles F. Dight (1856-1938) was the first president of the Minnesota Eugenics Society and promoted the state’s adoption of a law for the sterilization of the feeble-minded and insane in 1925. He bequeathed his fortune to the…
Royal Jennerian Society for the Extermination of the Small-pox
Following the discovery of Edward Jenner, the Royal Jennerian Society was formed at the London Tavern on January 19, 1803. Under the patronage of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the society's goal was to promote the eradication of smallpox through…
"Camp near Falmouth, Va."
This drawing, from 1863, is part of a letter to Sargent's young son, George; he wrote, I shall try and get leave to come home one of these days. I hope you will be glad to see me when I come. If you are not glad, I shall be very sorry, I can tell…
Materia medica Americana potissimum regni vegetabilis
This first account of American plants and their medicinal uses was, oddly enough, published in Germany. Johann David Schöpf was a military surgeon who came to the country during the Revolutionary War and later traveled through New York,…
