Information from the Rare Book Room and around the world.
The latest updates from the Hardin Library Blog:
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Benjamin Bell’s cancer treatise | featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room
by Damien Ihrig on July 3, 2025 at 6:31 pmBenjamin Bell (1749–1806), a pioneering Scottish surgeon and father of the Edinburgh school of surgery, authored A Treatise on the Hydrocele, on Sarcocele, or Cancer, and Other Diseases of the Testes (1791). Known for his rational, scientific approach to surgery, Bell also wrote the influential A System of Surgery (1783–1788). He was closely connected withContinue reading "Benjamin Bell’s cancer treatise | featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room"
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The invention of the stethoscope and a featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room
by Damien Ihrig on June 18, 2025 at 7:42 pmThis month, we highlight a book from the early 19th-century French physician who created the most iconic symbol of healthcare providers around the world. Assessing the condition of a patient in 1816, René Laënnec (1781–1826), rolled up a piece of paper to create a crude cone and proceeded to listen to the patient’s chest sounds.Continue reading "The invention of the stethoscope and a featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room"
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Vegetable materia medica of the US | featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room
by Damien Ihrig on June 9, 2025 at 9:22 pmWe present William Paul Crillon Barton’s (1786–1856) masterwork, Vegetable materia medica of the United States (1817–1818). Barton was a well-known naval surgeon, medical botanist, artist, and professor. He was born on Nov. 17, 1786, in Philadelphia, to a family filled with people who made important contributions to every aspect of the early United States. BartonContinue reading "Vegetable materia medica of the US | featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room"
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New exhibition showcases recipes in the history of medicine
by Damien Ihrig on April 16, 2025 at 5:49 pmVisit Hardin Library’s new exhibit on the third floor to explore how home remedies developed into pharmacology. Starting with folks in the 16th–19th centuries, whose ailment treatments came from a trusted authority figure and consisted of any number of substances applied in any number of ways, ranging from the helpful to the ineffectual, to theContinue reading "New exhibition showcases recipes in the history of medicine"
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Pioneering female physican Aletta Jacobs | Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room
by Damien Ihrig on March 27, 2025 at 7:53 pmThis Women’s History Month, the John Martin Rare Book Room highlights a book from the pioneering 19th-century Dutch physician and activist Aletta Jacobs. Born in 1854 in the Netherlands, Jacobs chafed at the status quo and the limited educational opportunities for women in the Netherlands. She rejected the standard for Dutch girls at the time, “finishing school,”Continue reading "Pioneering female physican Aletta Jacobs | Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room"
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Notes on Johann Christian Reil, the first psychiatrist, from the John Martin Rare Book Room
by Damien Ihrig on February 25, 2025 at 9:08 pmReil, was an 18th-century medical multihyphenate: physician-anatomist-physiologist. He was also the first true psychiatrist by virtue of coining the term “psychiatry” (or “psychiatrie” in German). His contributions to anatomy include the first description of the arcuate fasciculus in 1809 and the identification of anatomical features such as Reil’s finger (later known as Raynaud syndrome) and the Islands of Reil in the cerebral cortex.Continue reading "Notes on Johann Christian Reil, the first psychiatrist, from the John Martin Rare Book Room"
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Save the date for the John Martin Rare Book Room open house on April 24
by Sarah Andrews on February 13, 2025 at 8:20 pmThe annual John Martin Rare Book Room (JMRBR) open house will be on Thursday, April 24, 2025. All are invited to drop in from 5:30 to 8 p.m. to tour the space and explore staples of the JMRBR collection. There will also be special materials on display, such as John Gerard’s The herball and Brunschwig’sContinue reading "Save the date for the John Martin Rare Book Room open house on April 24"
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Using snow for anesthesia | Book of the month from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library
by Damien Ihrig on December 10, 2024 at 9:23 pmBARTHOLIN, THOMAS (1616-1680). De nivis usu medico observationes variae. Printed in Hafniae [Copenhagen] by Matthias Godiche for Peter Haubold [bookseller], 1661. 16 cm tall. Born into a family of distinguished scientists and academics, Bartholin was the second of six sons of Caspar Bartholin the Elder, a prominent physician and anatomist. The Bartholin family, including Thomas’s brother ErasmusContinue reading "Using snow for anesthesia | Book of the month from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library"
Notes from the Rare Book Room:
An earlier series highlighting items from the collection.
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by Sarah Andrews on June 5, 2018 at 8:54 pm
JOHANNES SCULTETUS (1595-1645). Chei-roplotheke [Greek transliterated] . . . 1655. See a display of books by Johannes Schltetus and his medical professors Adriaan van de Spiegel and Hieronymus Fabricius at the John Martin Rare Book Room in June, 2018. John Martin Rare Book Room Monday-Wednesday: June 6-20, 2018 1:00-4:00 Or by Appointment, 319-335-9154 Scultetus receivedContinue reading "Johannes Schltetus | Mini Exhibit June 6, 11-13, 18-20 | 1-4pm | John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library"
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by Sarah Andrews on April 6, 2018 at 7:45 pm
WILLIAM CHESELDEN (1688-1752). Osteographia; or, The anatomy of the bones. London: [n. publ.], 1733. Cheselden’s reputation as a teacher, clinician, and anatomist was well established during his lifetime, and he won great distinction in London’s hospitals. His work on human anatomy went through thirteen editions and became a standard textbook. His Osteographia, with its magnificent plates depictingContinue reading "Osteographia, The Anatomy of the Bones | April 2018 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library"
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Frankenstein | John Martin Rare Book Room Annual Open House | Thurs. March 22, 5-8pm
by Sarah Andrews on March 12, 2018 at 2:03 amJohn Martin Rare Book Room Open House Thursday, March 22 5-8pm Now in the 200th year since its publication, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus continues to raise questions about humanity, scientific ethics, and the place of the monster in our imaginations. This event features books and manuscripts from the John Martin Rare BookContinue reading "Frankenstein | John Martin Rare Book Room Annual Open House | Thurs. March 22, 5-8pm"
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by Sarah Andrews on March 12, 2018 at 1:39 am
In conjunction with the John Martin Rare Book Room Open House, Peter Balestrieri, Science Fiction and Popular Culture Curator, University of Iowa Libraries, will be giving a talk on curating Frankenstein at The Hardin Library conference room 401, on Thursday, March 22 from 4-5pm. After the talk, you may view parts of our collections atContinue reading "Curating Frankenstein | 200th Anniversary Talk by Peter Balestrieri | Thurs. March 22, 4-5pm @Hardin Library"
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Ancient Surgery in Early Modern Italy | History of Medicine Lecture | January 25, 5:30pm
by Sarah Andrews on January 22, 2018 at 10:15 pmThe University of Iowa History of Medicine Society invites you to a lecture by Marquis Berrey, Associate Professor in Classics, University of Iowa Ancient Surgery in Early Modern Italy: Celsus, Benivieni, Morgagni Thursday, January 25, 2018, 5:30-6:30 MERF Room 2117 (Medical Education and Research Facility) European medical professionals from the 15th through the early 19thContinue reading "Ancient Surgery in Early Modern Italy | History of Medicine Lecture | January 25, 5:30pm"
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November 2017 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room | Ars moriendi = The Art of Dying
by Sarah Andrews on November 27, 2017 at 7:13 pmArs moriendi. [Cologne, Heinrich Quentell, c. 1495] Although the author of Ars moriendi is not known, the book is believed to have been written in Southern Germany at the time of the Council of Constance (1414-1418). Ars moriendi, or The art of dying, was intended to instruct the reader on the proper modes of behaviorContinue reading "November 2017 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room | Ars moriendi = The Art of Dying"
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by Sarah Andrews on October 30, 2017 at 3:16 pm
The University of Iowa History of Medicine Society and The Hardin Library for the Health Sciences John Martin Rare Book Room invite you to hear Kara Swanson, J.D., PhD., Professor of Law, Northeastern University for the November, 2017 lecture. Thursday, November 16, 2017 6:00-7:00 Medical Education and Research Facility (MERF) Room 2117 375 Newton Road,Continue reading "Test Tube Babies During America’s Baby Boom : Artificial Insemination in Law & Medicine | HOM November Lecture | Thurs. Nov. 16, 6-7pm"
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by Sarah Andrews on October 23, 2017 at 10:27 pm
PARACELSUS (1493-1541). Opera, Bücher und Schrifften. Strasbourg: In Verlegung L. Zetzners seligen Erben, 1616. Philippus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim is universally known as Paracelsus. He was born in Switzerland and educated at Basel. Paracelsus unorthodox ideas and teachings put him in conflict with the orthodox establishment of his revolutionary time and he spent most of hisContinue reading "Paracelsus, father of toxicology | October 2017 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library"
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by Sarah Andrews on October 7, 2017 at 11:30 pm
The University of Iowa History of Medicine Society invites you to hear: World War I—Medical Issues at Home and in the Field Thursday, October 26, 2017 5:30-7:00 p.m. 2117 MERF (Medical Education and Research Facility) Panel Discussion: Memoirs from the Font Dr. Charles Hawtrey, Professor Emeritus, Department of Urology, University of Iowa Gas Warfare Dr.Continue reading "World War I – Medical Issues at Home and in the Field | History of Medicine Lecture | Thurs. Oct. 26, 5:30-7pm"
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by Sarah Andrews on May 22, 2017 at 3:04 pm
The March, 2013 John Martin Rare Book Room open house featured books and art on The Plague. Alice M. Phillips edited the original exhibit materials and designed an online exhibit: The Black Death.