By Erika Mills ~ In works of graphic medicine—an emerging field of medical literature—patients and their loved ones, caregivers, and health professionals tell stories about
Tag: book illustration
Palermo Book of Antidotes, 1670
By Margaret Kaiser ~ The Library has recently acquired a very rare pharmacopeia. Nicolò Gervasi’s Antidotarium Panormitanum (Palermo book of antidotes) published in Palermo, Italy
Treatise of Artificial Waters
By Margaret Kaiser ~ Herbs have been grown and used as medicine for thousands of years. Le Traicte des eaues artificielles les vertus & propriétés
Mr. Kris Kringle, 1893
By Margaret Kaiser It is Christmas eve, a Christmas with no presents and the loss of the family home, until a surprising visitor appears… Mr.
A Book Unfinished: Paracelsus in Hand-Press Sheets
By Stephen J. Greenberg ~ Books today, as physical objects, have reached a very odd place in our consciousness. Readers are increasingly offered books (or
Palmistry: The Future in the Palm of Your Hand
By Atalanta Grant-Suttie Some people think palmistry (or chiromancy as it is sometimes known) is hocus pocus and that it is all nonsense. How can
Autumn Highlights
By Ginny A. Roth The autumnal equinox has come and gone, and what lies ahead of us are cooler temperatures, falling leaves, and the beginning
Why me?
By Ginny A. Roth We’ve all been there. It’s finally time for that fun summer barbecue. You’re surrounded by family and friends, the weather is
The Wonder in Us, 1921
By Michael Sappol ~ Originally published in Hidden Treasure: The National Library of Medicine, 2011. In the early decades of the twentieth century a modernizing
A New Herbal in the Collection
By Margaret Kaiser The Library has recently acquired a rare work on medicinal plants by Leonhart Fuchs: Le Benefice commun de tout le monde, ou
Some of the Most Beautiful Herbals
By Michael North This post is the sixth in a series exploring the National Library of Medicine’s rich and varied collection of “herbals,” which are
Colonialism and the Plant Hunters
By Michael North This post is the fifth in a series exploring the National Library of Medicine’s rich and varied collection of “herbals,” which are
Early Journals: What’s in a Name?
By Atalanta Grant-Suttie The journal is so much a part of the current apparatus of scholarly communication that one never really thinks where and how
Research Reborn: Dioscorides and Mattioli
By Michael North This post is the fourth in a series exploring the National Library of Medicine’s rich and varied collection of “herbals,” which are
An Early Look at the Turkey
By Michael North Turkeys were one of many animals and plants the Europeans encountered in the New World beginning in 1492. There were wild turkeys
A Portal of Death
By Elizabeth Mullen Are you ready to walk and talk with the skeletons? It’s Halloween again. As the nights get longer and leaves turn and
A German Botanical Renaissance
By Michael North This post is the third in a series exploring the National Library of Medicine’s rich and varied collection of “herbals,” which are
Wonderful Works on Horses
By Margaret Kaiser The Library has acquired two wonderful works on horses. The first, Il Cavallo da maneggio… is by Giovanni Battista di Galiberto, a
Medieval Herbals in Movable Type
By Michael North This post is the second in a series exploring the National Library of Medicine’s rich and varied collection of “herbals,” which are
July Blooms
By Ginny A. Roth The image featured above is a botanical illustration of the flower, fruit, and seed of the Larkspur, the July birth
Physiological Ads for the Modern Self
By Michael Sappol Fritz Kahn (1888–1968), a German-Jewish physician-author, was the first great exponent of the conceptual medical illustration—illustrations that go beyond the representation of
The Earliest Herbals
By Michael North This post is the first in a series exploring the National Library of Medicine’s rich and varied collection of “herbals,” which are
The Apotheosis of the Dissected Plate
Michael Sappol spoke today at the National Library of Medicine on “The Apotheosis of the Dissected Plate: Spectacles of Layering and Transparency in 19th- and
Early Studies of Animals
By Michael J. North Some of the oldest materials in the historical collections of the National Library of Medicine are on the subject of natural
Happy Birthday, Andreas Vesalius!
By Michael J. North Today we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Andreas Vesalius (December 31, 1514–October 15, 1564), one of the most
First editions of Darwin’s Origin of Species
By Margaret Kaiser On November 24, 1859, Charles Darwin’s On the origin of species by means of natural selection… was published in London. From the
What’s Your Quit Day?
By Ginny A. Roth For nearly 42 million Americans, smoking is a hard habit to break. The American Cancer Society (ACS) calls tobacco use the
Mongolian Manuscript comes to Turning the Pages
By Michael J. North The latest addition to the Turning the Pages collection is a Mongolian manuscript entitled, Manual of Astrology and Divination. This colorfully
How To… Kill Animals Humanely
By Michael Sappol Is empathy innate? Are we all born with the ability to identify with the emotions of others, to feel someone else’s pain?
The Death of Andreas Vesalius
By Michael J. North This year we commemorate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564) who is best known for changing how
