By Stephen J. Greenberg ~ Last month, on February 7, 2019, forty-five members of the Washington Conservation Guild (WCG) held their floating monthly meeting in
Tag: Rare Books
Spice of History: A Gingerbread Recipe
Recipe books from the 18th century hold a combination of food recipes, herbal remedies, and other such household creations thought to improve health. Powell’s “ginger bread” recipe includes ingredients easily found in today’s grocery store and provides measures still in use today.
Fifteenth Century Books: From the Cradle of Printing in the West
By Laura Hartman ~ Zodiac Man. Critical Days. Secrets of women. Chiromancy. Plague. Poisons. Aristotle. Hippocrates. You can explore these topics and many more common
Hosting the Secretary of the Smithsonian
By Jeffrey S. Reznick ~ David J. Skorton, Secretary of the Smithsonian and a board-certified cardiologist, recently honored the National Library of Medicine (NLM) with
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
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
A Portal of Death
By Elizabeth Mullen
Are you ready to walk and talk with the skeletons? It’s Halloween again. This ‘portal of death’ is the frontispiece from Bernardino Genga’s beautiful Anatomia per uso et intelligenza del disengno…, 1691.
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
NLM’s Unique Early English Books Now Online
By Krista Stracka Earlier this summer, the National Library of Medicine announced the release of Unique English Imprints, pre-1800, a new collection available now through
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
Oil on Paper: A Collaborative Conservation Challenge
By Kristi Wright and Holly Herro Sometimes conservators encounter problems resulting from well-intended but ultimately flawed repair techniques. One example of this is the formerly
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
Hosting the Chairman of NEH
By Jeffrey S. Reznick William D. Adams, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently honored the National Library of Medicine (NLM) with
Aldus Manutius and Early Medical Humanist Publishing
By Michael North Today marks the 500th anniversary of the death of one of the most important figures in the printing of early Humanist texts
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
