The General State of Medical and Chirurgical Practice, Ancient and Modern, Exhibited
Graham, James, 1745-1794
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Howard, John C. (John Clarke), 1772-1810
More of an extended advertisement than a history of medicine, James Graham's <i>The General State of Medical and Chirurgical Practice</i> details his quack regimens of <i>"diet, aetherial and medico-electrical baths, and simple medicines"</i> and includes numerous testimonials of his cures.
<p>
The volume was donated to the Boston Medical Library by Dr. John C. Howard, the first Secretary and one of the first Trustees.
Graham, James, 1745-1794
R. Cruttwell
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text
English
DigID0002728
Medical Works, Preparing for Publication by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown
Trade catalogs
This trade catalog from an English publishing house and a prospectus for Charles Bell's <i>Surgical Observations</i> are inserted at the flyleaf of the Boston Medical Library's copy of Samuel Young's <i>Minutes of Cases of Cancer and Cancerous Tendency</i> (London : E. Cox and Son, 1816). The Trustees probably used catalogs of this sort to order new medical works as they became available. Copies or editions of many of the works advertised were once part of the Boston Medical Library collection.
Unknown
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text
English
DigID0002727
The Anatomy of the Absorbing Vessels of the Human Body
Cruickshank, William, 1745-1800
Title pages
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Fleet, John, 1766-1813
William Cruickshank's study of the lymphatic system was presented to the Boston Medical Library by its first librarian, Dr. John Fleet (1766-1813)
Cruickshank, William, 1745-1800
G. Nicol
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text
English
DigID0002726
Twenty-first Annual Report of the Boston Medical Library
Brigham, Edwin H. (Edwin Howard), 1840-1926
Annual reports
Boston Medical Library
Boston Athenaeum
Edwin H. Brigham (1840-1926), the assistant librarian of the second Boston Medical Library, here announces the initial deposit of the medical books of the Athenaeum. Additions deposits, large and small, were made over the next twenty years, with ultimately over 1,500 volumes added to the collection
Brigham, Edwin H. (Edwin Howard), 1840-1926
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text
English
DigID0002743
The Medical Repository of Original Essays and Intelligence Relative to Physic, Surgery, Chemistry and Natural History
The Medical Repository
Title pages
The early 19th century saw the rise of the medical journal as an outlet to disseminate news of discoveries, book reviews, and matters of interest to physicians. It also heralded the beginning of the proliferation of medical publishing. As part of its effort to provide access to current medical information, the Boston Medical Library subscribed to over forty different publications, from England, France, and America. <em>The Medical Repository</em>, which began in July 1797, was the first and one of the most eminent and successful of the American journals.
Unknown
T. and J. Swords
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text
English
DigID0002738
Records of the Massachusetts Medical Library
Massachusetts Medical Society
Circulation (collections management)
The Massachusetts Medical Society formed its own library in 1782. Although the Boston Medical Library surpassed it in size, this record of the library's circulation from the mid-1820s indicates several of the Boston Medical Library Proprietors—Drs. Warren, Ware, Channing, Coffin, and Strong—were also borrowing books from the Society's collection. Most of the librarians for the Boston Medical Library held that same office for the Massachusetts Medical Society. The Society's collection was kept at John Fleet's house for a time, just as the Boston Medical Library had been, and then moved to 49 Marlborough Street—along with Harvard Medical School until it opened its own building in 1816.
Massachusetts Medical Society
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text
English
DigID0002725
Miscellaneous Works of the Late Robert Willan
Willan, Robert, 1757-1812
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Excerpts
Jenner, Edward, 1749-1823
Robert Willan's observations on the history of smallpox as well as his detailed records of the diseases he saw and treated in London from 1796 to 1800 would have been of considerable interest to the physicians of Boston. Here, Willan discusses the utility of Edward Jenner's vaccination efforts.
Willan, Robert, 1757-1812
T. Cadell
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text
English
DigID0002724
Lectures in the Practice of Physic
Fordyce, George, 1736-1802
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Excerpts
Lecture notes
While the trustees of the Boston Medical Library concentrated on acquiring current medical literature, some anomalies crept in. This volume of student notes in a scribe's hand from the lectures of English physician George Fordyce appears to be the only manuscript item in the collection. The notes, in eighteen volumes, cover over 1,500 pages and concern diseases and fevers.
Fordyce, George, 1736-1802
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text
English
DigID0002723
An Introductory Discourse, to a Course of Lectures on the Theory and Practice of Physic
Hosack, David, 1769-1835
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Presentation copies
Flyleaves
This pamphlet is a presentation copy to the Boston Medical Library from its author, David Hosack, a celebrated New York physician who was in attendance at the duel of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in 1804. Four of the five items bound together here are presentation copies to the Library from the 1811-1813 period, implying the Trustees were actively soliciting new and current publications for their collection.
Hosack, David, 1769-1835
C. S. Van Winkle
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text
English
DigID0002737
Lectures on the Duties and Qualifications of a Physician
Gregory, John, 1724-1773
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Boston Athenaeum
Boston Medical Library
Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine
Bookplates
Based on the lectures of Dr. John Gregory at the University of Edinburgh, this manual on the conduct of a physician was published several times, both in England and America. A revised edition was produced by Gregory's son, James, who was also a physician.
<p>
Part of the original Boston Medical Library bookplate can be discerned beneath the Athenaeum circulation rules inside the front cover of this work, along with the record of deposit by the Athenaeum with the second Boston Medical Library and a Countway Library bookplate as well.
Gregory, John, 1724-1773
M. Carey & Son
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text
English
The History of Physick from the Time of Galen to the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century
Freind, John, 1675-1728
Title pages
Boylston, Zabdiel, 1679-1766
Inscriptions
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Physician John Freind planned this extensive early work on medical history—the first in the English language—while imprisoned for treason in the Tower of London. The volume appears to have been presented to the first Boston Medical Library by Dr. John Warren, and it also bears the signature of Zabdiel Boylston, the pioneer of smallpox inoculation in Boston, on its title-page.
Freind, John, 1675-1728
Printed for J. Walthoe
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text
English
DigID0002736
DigID0002735
Medicina of Jean Fernel
Fernel, Jean, 1497-1558
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Excerpts
Although the bulk of the Boston Medical Library's holdings were current books and periodicals, the collection did include a handful of older works and classics, and the Trustees advocated the formation of a historical collection. This text by French surgeon Jean Fernel was the oldest item in the Library and appears to have been the only 16th century title.
Fernel, Jean, 1497-1558
apud Andream Wechelum
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text
Latin
DigID0002722
Traite d'Accouchemens de Maladies des Femmes
Gardien, M. (Claude Martin), 1767-1838
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Bookplates
A fine specimen of the Boston Medical Library's bookplate is affixed to the cover of this set of C. M. Gardien's text on gynecology and pediatrics. The four volumes were never rebound, and the spine bears a label with the number 385—one of the only examples of the Library's original shelf mark.
Gardien, M. (Claude Martin), 1767-1838
Crochard, Libraire
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text
English
DigID0002734
Boerhaave's Medical Correspondence, containing the Various Symptoms of Chronical Distempers
Boerhaave, Herman, 1668-1738
Inscriptions
Coffin, John G. (John Gorham), 1769-1829
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Boerhaave, Herman, 1668-1738
Printed for John Nourse
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text
English
DigID0002721
Catalogue of Books in the Boston Athenaeum
Boston Athenaeum
Book catalogs
Excerpts
Green, John O. (John Orne), 1799-1885
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Just after it absorbed the Boston Medical Library, the Athenaeum issued a published catalogue of its holdings. In this copy, owned by Dr. John Orne Green in 1835, faint pencil notations can be discerned next to most of the entries for the Boston Medical Library books. The shelf numbers—1504 through 1575—give some indication of the size of the collection.
<p>The entry for Jean Fernel's <em>Medicina</em> (1554) can be seen here on p. 117.</p>
Boston Athenaeum
William L. Lewis
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text
English
DigID0002733
Boylston Medical Library bookplate
Boylston Medical Library
Bookplates
Boylston Medical Library
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text
English
Catalogue of Books in the Boylston Medical Library (1824)
Boylston Medical Library
Book catalogs
Warren, John Collins, 1778-1856
Boylston, Ward Nicholas, 1749-1828
Inscriptions
Excerpts
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 1810.
<p>This copy of the Boylston's 1824 catalogue was presented by the library's founder, Ward Nicholas Boylston, to Dr. John Collins Warren. The collection at that time had over 550 titles. By contrast, at this time, the library of the Massachusetts Medical Society had about 300 works and the Essex Southern District Medical Society's library about 100, while the Boston Medical Library held over 800 titles.</p>
Boylston Medical Library
Ezra Lincoln
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text
English
DigID0002732
DigID0002731
Catalogue of Books in the Boston Medical Library and the Rules and Regulations concerning the Same (1823)
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Book catalogs
Excerpts
The last printed version of a Boston Medical Library catalogue appeared in 1823 and described nearly 800 titles. The rules and regulations on circulation and fines differ considerably from the previous edition and probably reflect changes consequent on merging the collection with the library of the Medical School.
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
J. H. A. Frost
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text
English
Library of the Massachusetts Medical College
Harvard University
Rules (administrative instructions)
Book catalogs
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
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.
Harvard University
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English
DigID0002740-42
Catalogue of Boston Medical Library Arranged in Numerical Order
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Book catalogs
Excerpts
One of the few surviving records of the Boston Medical Library, this manuscript catalogue, unlike the printed versions, divides the collection by size—into folios, quartos, octavos, and duodecimos—with each title receiving a shelf mark number in each section. The Library's collection was almost certainly arranged by size and shelved numerically in these four divisions. By 1825, the collection had some 850 titles, both monographs and journals, as well as a number of bound volumes of pamphlets.
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
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text
English
Catalogue of Books in the Boston Medical Library; and the Rules and Regulations concerning the Same (1816)
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Book catalogs
Inscriptions
Rules (administrative instructions)
Green, John O. (John Orne), 1799-1885
Barrett, Benjamin
In 1819, the Boston Medical Library and the Library of the Massachusetts Medical College were unified and the collection made available to Harvard's medical students. This copy of the 1816 <em>Catalogue</em> belonged to a medical student, probably John Orne Green (HMS 1822), and then passed to Benjamin Barrett (HMS 1823). Students filled the role of Sublibrarian for both collections at the time. There were some 550 titles in the Boston Medical Library when this catalogue was printed.
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Munroe and Francis
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text
English
DigID0002719-20
DigID0002739
Catalogue of Books in the Boston Medical Library and the Rules and Regulations concerning the Same (1810)
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Book catalogs
Donor lists
Interleaves
Excerpts
After the printing of the 1810 edition of the Library's <em>Catalogue</em>, this interleaved copy was used to record subsequent acquisitions. The growth of the collection was so rapid, with over 350 new acquisitions, that another edition of the catalogue was needed by 1816. This copy includes a list of donors to the Library.
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
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text
English
DigID0002717
DigID0002718
Report from the Trustees on the state of the Library
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Book catalogs
Excerpts
The 1808 <em>Catalogue</em> includes a report from the Trustees on the state of the Library, providing the clearest statement of their intentions for the collection and its usefulness. As a result of the collection's rapid increase and acquisition of current literature, <em>"The Physicians of this town are now constant[l]y able to obtain the recent and valuable improvements, made by the more advanced science of Europe."</em> The Trustees encouraged donations of older works as well.
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Thomas Fleet
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text
English
Catalogue of Books in the Boston Medical Library, and the Rules and Regulations concerning the Same (1808)
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Book catalogs
Title pages
Warren, John Collins, 1778-1856
The copy of the 1808 <em>Catalogue</em> 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.
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Thomas Fleet
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text
English
Catalogue of Books in the Boston Medical Library (1807)
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Book catalogs
Excerpts
With nearly 150 titles, this second catalogue of the Library from 1807 attests to its rapid growth and includes a list of over fifty titles on order. The holdings include works on phrenology, botanic medicine, and a number of titles concerning smallpox vaccination.
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Thomas Fleet
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text
English
DigID0002730
An Abstract of the Rules of the Boston Medical Library
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Book catalogs
Rules (administrative instructions)
These stern regulations for the ordering of the Library were in place soon after its formation. The complete catalogue indicates that of the 29 titles, nearly one-third were current periodicals, attesting to the Trustees' intention to make the collection an up-to-date resource.
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
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text
English
Proprietor's Share Certificate for John Collins Warren
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Warren, John Collins, 1778-1856
Certificates
Only one example of the certificate of a Boston Medical Library Proprietor exists. The term "social library" indicates that members (the "socii") paid for a share allowing access and privileges.
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
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text
English
The Massachusetts Register and United States Calendar for the Year of Our Lord 1807
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Directories
This edition of a directory of local institutions, societies, and charitable organizations contains the earliest entry for the Boston Medical Library and a list of its officers and Trustees.
Massachusetts
John West and Manning & Loring
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text
English
DigID0002716
Enoch Hale
Hale, E. (Enoch), 1790-1848
Engravings (prints)
After graduating from Harvard Medical School in 1813, Dr. Enoch Hale held positions as a district physician to the Boston Dispensary and a visiting physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.
<p>
Enoch Hale was a Trustee of the Boston Medical Library and also its Clerk and last Treasurer. He looked after the Library's financial interests following its consolidation with the Boston Athenaeum.
Unknown
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image
Jacob Bigelow
J. W. Black and Co.
Bigelow, Jacob, 1786-1879
Photographs
Dr. Jacob Bigelow held the professorship of materia medica at Harvard and was instrumental in publication of the first edition of the <i>Pharmacopoeia of the United States</i> in 1820. He was also the founder of the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.
<p>
Jacob Bigelow was a Trustee of the Boston Medical Library.
J. W. Black and Co.
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image
DigID0002729
Walter Channing
Draper, William F.
Channing, Walter, 1786-1876
Portraits
Dr. Walter Channing, Harvard's first professor of obstetrics and medical jurisprudence, was also Dean of the Medical School for over a quarter of a century. He promoted the use of ether anaesthesia in childbirth and was one of the founders and attending physicians at the Boston Lying-In Hospital.
<p>Dr. Channing was a Librarian and one of the last Trustees of the Boston Medical Library.</p>
Draper, William F.
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image
John Ware
Photographs
Ware, John, 1795-1864
Dr. John Ware followed James Jackson in the Harvard professorship of the theory and practice of physic. He was an editor of <i>The New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery</i> and the first editor of the <i>Boston Medical and Surgical Journal</i> and one of the founding members of the Boston Society for Medical Improvement.
<p>
He was a Trustee and the last Clerk of the Boston Medical Library.
Unknown
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image
George Hayward
Hayward, George, 1791-1863.
Photographs
Dr. George Hayward was Harvard's first professor of the principles of surgery and clinical surgery. In 1846, he performed the second public surgical operation utilizing ether anesthesia, and then the first major amputation.
<p>In addition to being a Trustee, Dr. Hayward held the offices of Clerk and Treasurer of the Boston Medical Library and was its last Librarian.</p>
F. L. Lay's Photographic Atelier, 31 Winter St., Boston.
image
still image
C-CL02, Ser. 248, box 67, f. 26.
John Gorham
Gorham, John, 1783-1829
Engravings (prints)
Dr. Gorham was a son-in-law of John Warren and succeeded Aaron Dexter to the Erving professorship of chemistry and materia medica at Harvard in 1816. He was also an editor of <em>The New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery</em>.
<p>John Gorham held the office of Treasurer of the Boston Medical Library and was one of its Trustees.</p>
Unknown
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image
Vaccinae Vindicia
Thornton, Robert John, 1768?-1837
Plates (illustrations)
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Pasipha
Vaccination
Robert John Thornton published this detailed account of smallpox vaccination cases as an attack on Dr. Benjamin Moseley (1742-1819) and other opponents of Edward Jenner's work. In 1800, Moseley, a member of the Royal College of Physicians, suggested that the result of inoculation with cowpox matter might be <i>"That the human character may undergo strange mutations from quadrupedean sympathy and that some modern Pasiphaë may rival the fables of old"</i>—with the plate displayed here showing the result.
Thornton, Robert John, 1768?-1837
Printed for H. D. Symonds, et al.
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image
A Dissertation on Artificial Teeth
Dubois de Chémant, Nicolas, 1753-1824
Boston Medical Library (1805-1826)
Plates (illustrations)
Nicolas Dubois de Chémant began to issue this text—part scientific tract, part advertisement—in France in 1788, advocating dentures which were more durable and produced no offensive odors. His work passed through five subsequent English editions; this is the fourth.
<p>The plate illustrates different types of dentures, both single teeth and rows, and their means of attachment in the mouth.</p>
Dubois de Chémant, Nicolas, 1753-1824
T. Bensley
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image
Jean Fernel
Moncornet, B.
Engravings (prints)
Fernel, Jean, 1497-1558
Moncornet, B.
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image