Items

Title

Description

J.K. Rowling’s series, much like sixteenth- and seventeenth-century natural histories, contains many beasts and mysterious creatures, ranging from the recognizable to the fantastic. During that time period, people relied on accounts of travelers and seafarers who documented the exotic creatures they encountered. Study up on these, and you’ll be able to list the differences between the basilisk (a mythical reptile) and your garden-variety snake.

Disclaimer: This exhibition is not licensed or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling.

Title

The Resurrectionists

Description

A collection of broadsides, ballads, pamphlets, prints, and more concerning the body-snatchers and murderers William Burke and William Hare, their accomplices, and their victims.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, intense anatomical study, with direct observation of dissection of human cadavers, was an integral part of medical training at Europe's leading medical schools. Educating doctors produced a demand for human bodies that quickly outstripped the supply. In the United Kingdom prior to 1832, where executed criminals were the primary legitimate source for cadavers, a bustling trade in bodies developed, with grave robbers, or "Resurrection Men," supplying the anatomists with illegal, but much-needed specimens.

READ MORE →

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: Fundraising and Publicity

Title

Herbology

Description

The Academy Library’s collection is particularly strong in early herbals, especially medical botany. In the fifteenth century, printers often used the same woodblocks to illustrate a wide range of plants; a century later, plants are illustrated with much greater attention to detail and accuracy.

Disclaimer: This exhibition is not licensed or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling.

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: From Basilisks to Bezoars: The Surprising History of Harry Potter’s Magical World
Description: This collection celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the publication of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by showcasing rare books and objects dating back to the fifteenth century that reveal the history behind many of the creatures, plants and other magical elements that appear in the Harry Potter series—from mandrakes to basilisks to Nicholas Flamel and the philosopher’s stone itself. The collection is organized as a fictional study aid for Hogwarts students preparing for their important wizardry exams, the O.W.L.s, with content relating to seven Hogwarts courses.
Disclaimer: This exhibition is not licensed or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling.

Title: Dr. Radcliffe's Great Remedy
Subjects (LC): Children, Storms, Umbrellas
Manufacturer: Seven Seals or Golden Wonder
Language: English
ID: WH334
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: The Edwin Smith Papyrus
Description: A collaboration with the National Library of Medicine (NLM), this Flash exhibit uses NLM's "Turning the Pages" concept to let you unroll the scroll of the world's oldest surgical document.
EXPLORE THE PAPYRUS ON NLM →

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.

Warning message

Pages

Pages