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Title
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Pomet's Bezoar with Goat
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Description
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The French druggist Pierre Pomet devotes a section of his comprehensive history of drugs to bezoars, explaining that the stones appear in the stomachs of cows, apes, and goats. Pomet's goat leaps over a bezoar, sliced open like a geode to reveal its efficacious core. Pomet argues that this bezoar, produced in the belly of a high-leaping wild goat common in the East Indies, would promote sweat and drive away malignant humors. We'd wager Monsieur Pomet, apothecary to Louis XIV, could give even Snape a run for his wand in a battle of the Potion-Masters.
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Collection
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How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course
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Title
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Defense Against the Dark Arts
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Description
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Harry’s scar serves as a constant reminder that it is a dangerous world out there, with powerful wizards capable of great destruction. Familiarize yourself with these Defense-Against-the-Dark-Arts protections, and you’ll feel a little more confident about facing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named…or at least develop some strategies for making it through class unscathed.
Disclaimer: This exhibition is not licensed or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling.
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Title
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Lykosthenes' Salamander
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Description
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Konrad Lykosthenes tells us in 1557 that the salamander has a highly toxic venom, so strong it would taint all of the fruit on a tree it climbed. He also connects the animal with fire, arguing that the salamander can put out flames with its touch. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, salamanders are born from flames; Fred and George also feed one fireworks as a prank, and it releases tangerine stars (not inappropriate given the stellar designs on this fellow's back). Don't let the twins give you any ideas or that'll be ten points from Gryffindor.
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Collection
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How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course
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Title
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La Marée Montante, Au Secours!!
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Description
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Trade card featuring druggists John H. Sheehan & Co. featuring four figures playing on a shore. There are two boys and two girls. The boys seem to be helping the girls get to and from a large boulder without getting their clothes wet. There are sailboats in the background. The back lists the company advertised and its address.
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Subjects (LC)
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Advertising, Boats And Boating, Bows, Boys, Children, Children's Clothing, Girls, Marine Algae, Nature, Ocean, Ribbons, Rocks, Sailboats, Water
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ID
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WH211
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Collection
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William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards
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Title
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Leo, Astronomicae Veteres
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Description
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Master printer and innovator Aldus Manutius produced some of the finest early books printed in Venice. His extraordinary collection, the Scriptores Astronomici Veteres, included four astronomical texts that date from the Hellenistic period through imperial Rome. This star-studded Leo is one of many constellations illustrating the Greek poet Aratus's Phaenomena, one of the few illustrated works produced by the Aldine Press (they're modeled on earlier woodcuts produced by another Venetian printer, Erhard Ratdolt for his star atlas in 1482). Leo has special resonance for Hogwarts students as the sign of both Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling herself: both were born on July 31, and the lion is the regal animal behind Harry's house. Hail, Gryffindor!
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Collection
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How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course
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Title
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Kircher's Three-headed Dog full
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Description
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This engraving, found in Athanasius Kircher's two volume work on music, depicts Orpheus playing the hellhound Cerberus to sleep in order to gain passage to the Underworld. In classical sources, Cerberus was not usually so easily tamed: to the Greeks, he was a monstrous three-headed dog. A glance at Cerberus was said to petrify humans, and his bite was poisonous. Most Greek sources describe Cerberus as possessing three heads, as does Fluffy, the fearsome guard dog who blocks passage to the underground vault guarding the philosopher's stone. Spoiler alert: Harry and his friends take a cue from Orpheus's book and soothe Hogwarts' vicious pup by picking a drowsy tune.
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Collection
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How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course
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Title
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Divination
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Description
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Advanced wizards eager to answer the question “Where do you see yourself in ten years?” may enjoy reading up on the fundamentals of divination, devoted to strategies for forecasting the future. In case you’re wondering if J.K. Rowling’s centaurs had a monopoly on the art, early modern natural philosophers like Robert Fludd were very much engaged in questions related to astrology and how the planets governed human outcomes.
Disclaimer: This exhibition is not licensed or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling.
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Title
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Perfumed with Austen's Forest Flower Cologne
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Description
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Trade card advertising Austen's Forest Flower Cologne featuring a clothed, barefooted, Cupid-esque figure carrying a basket of purple flowers. The back lists the unique properties of the Cologne.
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Subjects (LC)
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Advertising, Angels, Bouquets, Bows, Cherubs, Clothing And Dress, Costume, Flowers, Folklore, Grasslands, Hats, Mythology, Nature, Necklaces
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ID
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WH222
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Collection
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William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards
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Title
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What Happened in ___ During the Hot Spell?
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Description
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This blank postcard, labeled "Efficient Citizenship No. 454," promotes the achievements of the New York Milk Committee and allied agencies in their fight against infant mortality from July 1 -15, 1911. Statistics from thirteen American cities are provided, as is the reason for the campaign's success: access to, and use of, "good milk." The postcard verso includes a chart of "baby deaths for one year" -- tracking seasonal changes in mortality rates -- and asks the reader to consider, "When does the spurt come in your city?" Contact information for the New York Milk Committee is also provided.
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Subjects (LC)
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Mortality, Milk, Summer, Infants, Hygiene, Health
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ID
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mk1e010
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Geographic Subject
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New York. New York City.
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Collection
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New York Milk Committee Ephemera Collection
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Title
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Lykosthenes' Phoenix with Flames
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Description
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One of the earliest descriptions of the mythical phoenix dates to Herodotus, who described a bird with red-and-gold plumage that appears in Heliopolis once every 500 years. This woodcut is from the Alsatian chronicler of curiosities and humanist Konrad Lykosthenes. Worried this distressed rara avis will go the way of kindling? Not a chance! Not only is the Order rooting for him, but, as Dumbledore's patronus, we're pretty sure he's on the rise, especially on Burning Day.
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Collection
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How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course
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Title
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Urine Wheel Diagram
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Description
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The urine wheel diagram is yet another visual trope adapted from medieval manuscripts. Urine texts were very popular, and while the urine consult scene appears to be original to the Fasciculus medicinae, several medieval medical texts included this circular diagram to aid a physician in remembering the various attributes of urines, and what they indicated about a person’s health. It is set up like a wagon wheel, with the urines grouped together by color. The outer edge of the wheel describes each color in detail by comparing it to a common object; for example, “The color of this urine is yellow like gold.” The inner circle of the diagram further divides the urines into groups of colors, and what producing a urine in that color signified about a person’s digestion and overall health. In each of the four corners of the page outside of the diagram are descriptions of the four temperaments, sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic, and what urine colors meant in regard to a person’s humoral balance. 1495: The urine wheel diagram is not in this 1495 version, for reasons unknown. 1500: In this version, the artist has tried to represent the urine colors using the color descriptions at the base of each jar around the wheel. This diagram also includes an introduction discussing the Fasciculus at the top center of the page, as well as a brief few lines of verse mentioning the connections between the four humors, the four elements (earth, air, fire, water), and the four complexions or temperaments. All were thought to be tied together, and revealed much about a person’s personality and physical tendencies. 1509: The urine wheel is the only image in the 1509 edition that includes color. The urines are lightly painted to correspond to their textual descriptions. Unfortunately, a large part of the upper portion of this page has been damaged, and subsequently repaired. The same few lines of verse describing the temperaments and complexions (translated into Italian) can be seen at the bottom of this page between the descriptions of phlegmatic and melancholic temperaments. 1513: The 1513 version is essentially the same as the 1500 version, although without the colors. 1522: The 1522 version is the same as the 1513 and 1500 versions, but translated into Italian and lacking any color.
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