Osler material added to the Medical Heritage Library

We are please to announced we’ve partnered with Medical Heritage Library and joined some of the world’s leading medical libraries in making our digitized content available in their collaborative digital library. One of the biggest advantages of these aggregate digital libraries is not only being able to do a full text search across multiple collections at a time but you can also download the records in JSON, XML and CSV format.

We’ve submitted our first batch of material from our Osler Library of the History of Medicine collection which includes 37 handwritten notebooks from Sir William Olser, Clare Gass’s diary from 1915-1916 and various Arabic and Persian medicinal texts such as this 11th century ophthalmology text.

Note found inside Kitāb Tadhkirat al-Kaḥḥālīn by by Kaḥḥāl, ʻAlī ibn ʻĪsá, -1038 or 1039. Osler Library of the History of Medicine. Manuscript 389/27

Note found inside Kitāb Tadhkirat al-Kaḥḥālīn by by Kaḥḥāl, ʻAlī ibn ʻĪsá, -1038 or 1039. Osler Library of the History of Medicine. Manuscript 389/27

The phrenological almanac for 1841 : embellished with fifty engravings, illustrative of the science of phrenology by Fowler, L. N. (Lorenzo Niles), 1811-1896. Osler Library of the History of Medicine. Fowler 1841

The phrenological almanac for 1841 : embellished with fifty engravings, illustrative of the science of phrenology by Fowler, L. N. (Lorenzo Niles), 1811-1896. Osler Library of the History of Medicine. Fowler 1841

 

New online: George Box Drayton notebook

New to our digital library is the 336 page handwritten notebook of George Box Drayton that includes various case records, autopsies, prescriptions, lecture notes and personal memoranda dating from 1802 to 1840.

"Comparative Experiments on Mills Blood." Detail from page 27 of the George Box Drayton notebook. 1802-1840

“Comparative Experiments on Mills Blood.” Detail from page 27 of the George Box Drayton notebook. 1802-1840

 

Page 26-27 of the George Box Drayton notebook. 1802-1840

Page 26-27 of the George Box Drayton notebook. 1802-1840

This book was a real challenge to digitize due to it’s size and fragile condition. Measuring a little over 20 inches long and 8 inches wide meant it wouldn’t fit on one of our regular cradle machines and doing it on our medium-format overhead camera would have taken too long. In the end we realized if we turned the book sideways we could digitize a two page spread on one of our overhead scanners located on site at the Olser Library and then we split the pages in post-production. Scanning the book sideways did give us a bit of glare in the gutter due to the light bouncing off the curvature of pages but no text was lost so we felt it was a reasonable compromise in order to get a copy done.

You can download a PDF of the full notebook from our catalogue or you can see the original on request by visiting the Olser Library of the History of Medicine during opening hours.

New: [Manuscripts in English, on paper]

Various sizes of letters and notes bound together. Written by Sir Thomas Browne and collected by Sir W. Osler.

You can download all of the letters and notes from our catalogue or you can see the originals by visiting the Olser Library of the History of Medicine during opening hours.

Page 41 Ostrich's head drawing. Thomas Browne, Sir. (ca.1659-1682.) Manuscripts in English, on paper. Older Library of the History of Medicine niche. folio B884m 1659-1682  

Page 41 Ostrich’s head drawing. Thomas Browne, Sir. (ca.1659-1682.) Manuscripts in English, on paper. Older Library of the History of Medicine niche. folio B884m 1659-1682

 

Page 43 "Ostrich's head within". Thomas Browne, Sir. (ca.1659-1682.) Manuscripts in English, on paper. Older Library of the History of Medicine niche. folio B884m 1659-1682  

Page 43 “Ostrich’s head within”.
Thomas Browne, Sir. (ca.1659-1682.) Manuscripts in English, on paper. Older Library of the History of Medicine niche. folio B884m 1659-1682

Page 13. Thomas Browne, Sir. (ca.1659-1682.) Manuscripts in English, on paper. Older Library of the History of Medicine niche. folio B884m 1659-1682  

Page 13. Thomas Browne, Sir. (ca.1659-1682.) Manuscripts in English, on paper. Older Library of the History of Medicine niche. folio B884m 1659-1682

Page 3 notes. Thomas Browne, Sir. (ca.1659-1682.) Manuscripts in English, on paper. Older Library of the History of Medicine niche. folio B884m 1659-1682  

Page 3 bibliographic notes. Thomas Browne, Sir. (ca.1659-1682.) Manuscripts in English, on paper. Older Library of the History of Medicine niche. folio B884m 1659-1682

A section of the medieval herbal manuscript on 2 damaged leaves

New to our digital catalogue: Macer Floridus : a section of the medieval herbal, on 2 damaged leaves] came to us from the Olser Library of the History of Medicine by way of a researcher request. The cataloguing notes tell us the herbal has been attributed erroneously to Macer Floridus. In double columns, containing 288 hexameter lines, which correspond to chapters 65-73, Piper-Costus and to chapters 36, Caulis, 34, Bugloss, 38, Origanum, 46, Asarum, in Pictorius’s ed.: Basel, 1559. Except for 2 leaves (shown below), the vol. is of blank paper which we left in the PDF; with coloured capitals.

Macer, . (1300). Macer Floridus: [a section of the medieval herbal, on 2 damaged leaves].

Macer, . (1300). Macer Floridus: [a section of the medieval herbal, on 2 damaged leaves].

Macer, . (1300). Macer Floridus: [a section of the medieval herbal, on 2 damaged leaves].

Macer, . (1300). Macer Floridus: [a section of the medieval herbal, on 2 damaged leaves].

Macer, . (1300). Macer Floridus: [a section of the medieval herbal, on 2 damaged leaves].

Macer, . (1300). Macer Floridus: [a section of the medieval herbal, on 2 damaged leaves].

Macer, . (1300). Macer Floridus: [a section of the medieval herbal, on 2 damaged leaves].

Macer, . (1300). Macer Floridus: [a section of the medieval herbal, on 2 damaged leaves].

You can download the PDF of the manuscript from our catalouge or come see the real thing by visiting the Osler Library of the History of Medicine.

New digital exhibition: Our friend, the Sun

Screen Shot 2014-12-16 at 1.16.28 PMA gloomy winter day seems the perfect time to launch a digital exhibition about the therapeutic effects of the sun. The digital exhibit delves into the visual culture of Heliotherapy, an ancient practice of total bodily exposure to sunlight, and Phototherapy, an electric light therapy pioneered in the 1890s. How heliotherapeutic and phototherapeutic practices were disseminated and popularized within the history and visual culture of light therapeutics during the early twentieth century will be explored using illustrated texts and objects from the Osler Library‘s collection – so too will themes of pleasure and discomfort, ancient and modern, and the natural and artificial.

Take a break and learn more at http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/sun/

Promo slide for Olser exhibition

Showman’s patter : a description of books in the Osler Library

We recently had the pleasure of digitizing over 300 pages of ‘amusing and instructive anecdotes about many of the outstanding items in the Osler Library of the History of Medicine by Dr. William Willoughby Francis (1878-1959), the first Osler Librarian who ran the library from its opening in 1929 until his death in 1959. This original typescript manuscript (with handwritten annotations) was transcribed from Dr. Francis’ recorded descriptions of choice items from the collection and provides a fascinating piece of library history.  The full volume is available for download through our catalogue.

Excerpt from page 2 of Francis, W. W. (1950). Showman's patter: A description of books in the Osler Library ; dictated by the author, 1950-1957.

Excerpt from page 2 of Francis, W. W. (1950). Showman’s patter: A description of books in the Osler Library ; dictated by the author, 1950-1957.

 

Dr. Francis undoubtedly knew the collection as well as Sir William Osler (1849-1919) himself, being the primary editor of the Bibliotheca Osleriana, the annotated catalogue of Osler’s collection of approximately 8,000 historical medical and scientific works which Sir William donated to McGill in 1919.  Dr. Francis also grew up with the collection, for Osler was not only a close relative but a surrogate father to him. If you’d like to learn more about Dr. William Willoughby Francis 185 cm of textual records are held in the  the Osler Library of the History of Medicine archives. You can consult the fond guide here http://osler.library.mcgill.ca/media/pdf/p155.pdf

Second floor of the Osler Library of the History of Medicine

View from the second floor of the Olser Library.

2 volumes of lectures (probably) by Gilles Basset des Rosiers

Two volumes of lectures, probably by Gilles Basset des Rosiers – v. 1. “Phisica generalis” and moral philosophy and v. 2. “Phisica particularis” (astronomy, physics, anatomy and physiology). The writer, J.B. Buron, named in the title statement, probably attended the Collège d’Harcourt, Paris.

While the original is unavailable during the renovations to the Osler Library of the History of Medicine you can download the digital copy through our catalogue

Basset des Rosiers, Gilles. 1743. Phisica data ab aegidio Basset celeberrimo professore in Harcurio et scripta a Joanne Baptista Buron in eadem scola auditore anno Domini 1743. http://www.library.mcgill.ca/hostedjournals/002218148.html.

Page 147. Basset des Rosiers, Gilles. 1743. Phisica data ab aegidio Basset celeberrimo professore in Harcurio et scripta a Joanne Baptista Buron in eadem scola auditore anno Domini 1743. http://www.library.mcgill.ca/hostedjournals/002218148.html.

Page 147. Basset des Rosiers, Gilles. 1743. Phisica data ab aegidio Basset celeberrimo professore in Harcurio et scripta a Joanne Baptista Buron in eadem scola auditore anno Domini 1743. http://www.library.mcgill.ca/hostedjournals/002218148.html.

Page 167. Basset des Rosiers, Gilles. 1743. Phisica data ab aegidio Basset celeberrimo professore in Harcurio et scripta a Joanne Baptista Buron in eadem scola auditore anno Domini 1743. http://www.library.mcgill.ca/hostedjournals/002218148.html.

Page 167. Basset des Rosiers, Gilles. 1743. Phisica data ab aegidio Basset celeberrimo professore in Harcurio et scripta a Joanne Baptista Buron in eadem scola auditore anno Domini 1743. http://www.library.mcgill.ca/hostedjournals/002218148.html.

Cycling! Endorsed by all physicians.

Advertisement found on page 21 of the 1890 edition of the Polk’s medical register and directory of North America.

Advertisement found on page 21 of the 1890 edition of the Polk’s medical register and directory of North America.

The Osler Library of the History of Medicine has 12 volumes of the registries covering from 1890 to 1917 in their reference collection. The bookplate indicates it was no. 1898 in the Library of the Faculty of Medicine collection and received in 1896.

Not only a great resource for researching medical professionals most pages feature small banner advertisement in it’s header making it filled with odd medical endorsements. You can view the full set online.

Daumier in Montreal

If you can’t make it to London for “Daumier (1808-1879): Visions of Paris“, the brand new Royal Academy of Arts exhibition, we have a few small pieces of his work here in our own library.

As part of the Osler Library of the History of Medicine print collection we have digitized two of Daumier’s printed lithographs. Or you can visit the Olser reading room and browse a Daumier catalogue that discusses the characterization of doctors and medicine in his work.

"La Potion - Draught" by Honoré Daumier.

“La Potion – Draught” by Honoré Daumier.

 

"Clinique du Docteur Robert-Macaire" by Honoré Daumier.

“Clinique du Docteur Robert-Macaire” by Honoré Daumier.

 

“How the Department of Health of the city of New York is fighting tuberculosis” from 1908

This scrapbook by Hermann M. Biggs and the New York Department of Health includes a short history of the campaign against tuberculosis and glued-in maps, diagrams, sample cards and forms that were used.

You can find the full digitized version online through our catalogue or you can visit the Osler Library of the History of Medicine and to see the original book.

'Don't Spit' pamphlet on page 117 from 'How the Department of Health of the city of New York is fighting tuberculosis'

‘Don’t Spit’ pamphlet on page 117 from ‘How the Department of Health of the city of New York is fighting tuberculosis’

'Co-operation diagram' on page 15 from 'How the Department of Health of the city of New York is fighting tuberculosis'

‘Co-operation diagram’ on page 15 from ‘How the Department of Health of the city of New York is fighting tuberculosis’

Cover of 'How the Department of Health of the city of New York is fighting tuberculosis'

Cover of ‘How the Department of Health of the city of New York is fighting tuberculosis’