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An Abstract of the Patent Granted by His Majesty King George…
Title
An Abstract of the Patent Granted by His Majesty King George…
Description
Patent medicines originated in England in the mid 17th century and were marketed with extravagant claims, offering cures for a host of maladies. Recommendations for dosage were vague, and ingredients (often including opium) were usually not specified. In 1726 Benjamin Okell was granted the royal patent for Dr. Bateman’s Pectoral Drops, a tincture of gambir (an astringent extract from an Asian plant) and opium. Advertisements published in the London Mercury as early as 1721 directed prospective customers to the warehouse and printing shop at Bow's Churchyard, where they could purchase the drops for one shilling. Our copy of the 1731 reprint by Peter Zenger is likely the first piece of medical printing in New York. Zenger, who would later become famous for printing seditious texts, was instrumental in establishing freedom of the press in America. The Academy has the only known copy. Bound with our copy of the abstract is a copy of A Short treatise of the virtues of Dr. Bateman's Pectoral Drops, also issued by Okell and his printing house partners. Here, Batemans efficacy as a treatment for numerous ailments are described in sections dedicated to each. The last section of the treatise offers testimonials from satisfied customers.

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Subjects (LC)
Advertising—Medicine, Early works to 1800, Fever, Medicine, Patent medicines, Rheumatism
The Lloyd I. Seaman, Floating Hospital of St. John's Guild [from back]
Title
The Lloyd I. Seaman, Floating Hospital of St. John's Guild [from back]
Description
Black-and-white postcard with an image of the hospital ship Lloyd I. Seaman, The Floating Hospital of St. John's Guild, and its patients, presumably on the East River. There is a view of buildings in the background. | Caption at top left of back describes the ship and its mission. | Card not posted.
Subjects (LC)
Hospitals, Hospitals – New York (State) -- New York County, Floating Hospital (Long Island City, New York, N.Y.), St. John’s Guild (New York, N.Y.), Mothers, Children, East River (N.Y.), Rivers, Hospital ships, Lloyd I. Seaman (Barge), Hospitals, Convalescent, Children -- Hospitals, Pediatrics
ID
nycm_237
Geographic Subject
Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)
Chubby's Magic Book
Title
Chubby's Magic Book
Description
Too bad the infant Dudley Dursley didn't get his Aunt Lily's magical abilities....this spellbinding babe is a dead ringer for Harry Potter's first cousin, minus his trademark scowl. Chubby's Magic Book, an advertising pamphlet for Fletcher's Castoria, administered to counteract indigestion, was one of many pamphlets produced by patent medicine manufacturers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It also contains images printed in invisible ink. As Hermione might say, "Aparecium!"  
Collection
How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course
Centaur Almanac
Title
Centaur Almanac
Description
For many nineteenth-century Americans, almanacs produced by patent medicine manufacturers were a trusted source of information, distributed annually by the local pharmacy. By the nineteenth century, many manufacturers produced almanacs with arresting designs featuring plants and animals in eye-catching colors. Pharmaceutical almanacs combined calendars, weather predictions, and horoscopes with advertisements and testimonials for products. This almanac, produced by Centaur Liniments, promoted a medication that promised to remedy a long list of ailments. Good leisure reading for that centaur colony near Hogwarts—within these pages they'd find predictions of the planets' brightest days, which could ease viewing through the thick cover of the Forbidden Forest's trees.  
Collection
How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course