Collection – Department of the History of Medicine

In: Collection

Screenshot for video titled "Lunch with the Libraries & Museums: The Henry Barton Jacobs Collection At the Institute of the History of Medicine" featuring a stained glass window to the right of the image that reads "TUBERCULOSIS"

The Henry Barton Jacobs Collection

May 1, 2026

Check out this video with Michael Seminara, Curator of the Historical Collection at the Institute of the History of Medicine, for…

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Black‑and‑white photo of a medieval manuscript page showing a circular diagram filled with Roman numerals and curved bands crossing the center. Latin words label the circle’s quadrants around the rim. A column of letters with corresponding Roman numerals runs down the left margin. The page is worn and speckled with ink marks.

Sigerest Medieval Manuscript Reproduction Collection

We recently rehoused the Henry E. Sigerist Medieval Manuscript Reproduction Collection, moving its contents from their original folders into updated storage…

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Black‑and‑white vintage photo of six men standing in a row outdoors against a rough stucco wall. They wear suits and ties; one holds a cigarette and another holds a folder or papers. The lighting casts strong shadows on the wall and ground.

Codex medicus Hertensis

Above image: Leipzig, Germany: medical historians: group portrait. Photograph, 1929. Wellcome Collection. In July of 1917, Karl Sudhoff published an article…

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Handwritten cursive text on old, faded ledger paper. Text describes medical records of 19th century patients.

New to the Historical Collection:

Three journals and one ledger documenting the work and travels of Dr. Israel Shipman Pelton Lord.

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Vintage oval portrait of a suited man with “El Dr. Henry Hanson” captioned below.

Yellow Fever Control in Peru

December 8, 2024

From 1919-1921, Henry Hanson, MD (1877-1954), as Director of Yellow Fever Control for the National Health Department of Peru, led a…

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Framed display containing handwritten notes and a small lock of cow hair.

Hair of the Cow

December 8, 2024

In 1798, Edward Jenner, an English country physician, published his historic work, An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae…

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An old, yellowed book open to the title page of Aristotle's Master Piece. On the left is a photo of a naked woman covering her breasts. On the right is the title page which reads, "Aristoteles Master Piece."

Not the Real Aristotle

December 8, 2024

Aristotle’s Masterpiece was the best-selling book about sex and reproduction in both Britain and America for much of the eighteenth and nineteenth…

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