Items

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

Title

The byrth of Mankynde newly translated out of Laten into Englyshe

Description

The Byrth of Mankynde, published in 1540, is the oldest manual for midwives printed in the English language. It remained in use both as a guidebook for midwives and as a source for physicians in the practice of obstetrics throughout Europe for the next two hundred years. The 1540 Byrth was a translation from the Latin edition of De Partu Hominis of Eucharius Rösslin’s Rosengarten. Rösslin was charged with supervising the midwives of Frankfurt, and although this volume contains sound instruction on delivery procedures, it did not break new ground in the field of obstetrics. Instead, it makes available the teachings of the Roman physician Soranus, popularized by Moschion, author of a 6th century question – and –answer book for Roman midwives. Other influences include Galen, Hippocrates, Aetius, Magnus and others. The volume’s seventeen copper-engraved plates were among the first in England to be produced by a roller press. The first illustrates “the Womans Stwle,” or birth chair, a birth aid which had been in use at least since Soranus’ time. Sixteen additional plates depict “Byrth Figures” in various positions in utero. The babies in these images, who resemble children age three or four and not fetuses, float dreamily in light-bulb-shaped vessels.

Demonomanie argues that any measure necessary should be applied in order to catch practitioners of sorcery, including allowing children to testify against their parents.

Collection

How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course

Title: Urine Consultation Scene

Title: Modilac-Merrell

Title: Fasciculus medicine : similitudo complexionum & elementorum. [1500]
Description: The sixth edition of the Fasciculus, and the fifth printed in Venice, also by the brothers Gregorii in Latin. The edition uses the same blocks as the 1495 edition, with some minor modifications of the plates. The edition adds a new treatise by Rhazes on children’s diseases. This is the only edition of our five with colored plates, and is bound with Savonarola's Practica medicinae.
Subjects (LC): Medicine-Early works to 1800, Medicine, Medieval, Human anatomy-Early works to 1800, Human anatomy-Charts, diagrams, etc, Surgery-Early works to 1800, Genitourinary organs-Early works to 1800, Generative organs-Early works to 1800, Plague-Early works to 1800

Title: Hoffman home remedies collection : manuscript, circa 1775-1850
Description: This manuscript contains approximately 45 medical receipts on 88 pages (about half are blank). Includes remedies for piles, wens, warts, burns, fever, croup, rheumatism, and gravel, among others. Some remedies are accompanied by prayers. The manuscript is in predominately one hand, possibly that of Susanna Weinbrech Hoffmann (1742-1803) or Lydia Henkel Hoffman. The only confirmed hand in the book is that of William Hoffman (1809-1886), Lydia's son, on the last page of the book.
Subjects (LC): Medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Traditional medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Manuscripts, American -- 18th century, Manuscripts, American -- 19th century, Manuscripts, American -- 19th century, German Americans -- Maryland

Title: 37. Letter on the prejudices of the great in science and philosophy against phrenology; addressed to the editor of The Edinburgh Weekly Journal
Collection: The Resurrectionists

Title: Disease Figure

Title: Hoffman cook book : manuscript, circa 1835-1870
Description: This manuscript contains approximately 200 recipes. The first and largest section of the manuscript consists of German recipes reminiscent of recipes now identified with the "Pennsylvania Dutch" and other ethnically German communities in the Mid-Atlantic and near Midwest, as well as some American recipes. German recipes include boiled cheese, warm cucumber salad, noodles with sour gravy, fried sauerkraut; American recipes include pound cakes, pot pie dough, pumpkin pie, and ketchup. This section was initially attributed to Susanna Weinbrech Hoffmann (1742-1803), but the recipes suggest a later date, post-1835 and pre-1870, and consequently a different author. The following section contains recipes, mostly for desserts (cakes, pies, puddings, etc.), in a different hand. These were most likely written by Lydia A. Hoffman Smyser around 1865. Two other recipes are also present and believed to be in the hand of Mary E. F. Hoffman. These recipes are followed by six medicinal receipts in the hand of the main body of the manuscript.
Subjects (LC): Cooking, American, German Americans -- Maryland, Medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Traditional medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Manuscripts, American -- 19th century

Title: Approved receipts in physick : manuscript, circa 1650-1700
Description: Manuscript recipe book consisting of mostly medical formulas, as well as some culinary recipes and a few alchemical preparations. Predominately in two unidentified hands. There are approximately 480 medical recipes (467 numbered) and 21 culinary recipes. Includes remedies for sores, burns, wounds, ailments of the eyes, complexion, "greene sickness," colds, coughs, and more. Most of the recipes are unattributed, but there are a few exceptions, including a receipt for "Sr Walter Rawley's great cordiall". Culinary recipes include syrups, wines, meats, pickles, preserves, and waffles. The book was probably compiled in the second half of the 17th century.
Subjects (LC): Cooking, English, Medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions -- Early works to 1800, Traditional medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Cooking, English, Manuscripts, English -- 17th century

Title

Feldtbuch der Wundartzney

Description

This manual for military surgeons first published in Strassburg in 1517 was only the second handbook on surgery to be published in Germany in the vernacular. It was reissued at least twelve times, with translations in Latin and Dutch. The Feldtbuch was written and compiled by Hans Gersdorff, an Alsatian army surgeon who had served in the Burgundian war. The book enumerates treatments for the injuries most common to soldiers, including gunshot wounds, loss of limbs, and leprosy. The woodcut illustrations, many by Johann Ulrich Wechtlin, are among the earliest European depictions of surgery. The gaze in these illustrations and throughout the text belongs to the surgeon. Little attention in the text or image is paid to the recovery or long-term rehabilitation of the patient; the focus is on the squarely on the surgical procedure itself. The last section of the book is devoted to three Latin-German glossaries on anatomy, pathology and the medicinal uses of herbs.

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