#earlymedicine

[the-fact-site]

Walter Freeman is known in history as the “father of the lobotomy,” an infamous procedure that involved severing a patient’s prefrontal cortex connections with a sharp object. #FACT

[harvardfineartslib]

Today is Day 3 of Earth Day, but every day should be Earth Day in the time when our planet really needs our care. This year’s theme is “Restore Our Earth.” We can do this by restoring soil. Soil is important for our biodiversity, providing nutrients for trees and plants that we use for food and energy, retaining and purifying most of the water on earth, and preventing floods. But we’re seeing soil erosion at an accelerated rate in the last half-century and losing good healthy soil from overgrazing and overplowing.[1] Planting more trees and plants would help restore our soil.

De materia medica (On Medical Material), a 5-volume Greek encyclopedia about herbal medicine and related medicinal substances, is considered one of the great treatises on the therapeutic properties of natural substances such as plants, minerals, and animals.[2] It was written by Dioscorides Pedanius, a Greek physician, botanist, and pharmacologist. It is important to note the root structures included in the illustrations. Roots not only anchor a plant in place, but they are also its lifeline, absorbing water, minerals, and nutrients and providing much needed energy to trees and plants, from which we all benefit. Dioscorides certainly knew the importance of roots.

Folio from a manuscript of the De Materia Medica of Dioscorides Dioscorides Pedanius of Anazarbos, ac.ca.65 [author] Baghdad, Muhafazat Baghdad, Iraq Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper 33 cm; width 24 cm (folio) Folio taken from Istanbul, Süleymaniye Library Islamic Arab Creation Date: 1224/621 AH Repository: Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts HOLLIS number: olvwork69233

De Materia Medica (Leiden, Rijksuniverseit Bibliotheek Cod. Or. 289) Translated Title: Kitâb al-hashâ'ish 227 ff. Arabic translarion of De Materia Medica od Dioscoride Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper 31 x 21.5 cm. Samarkand Islamic Arab Creation Date: 1083 Repository: Rijksuniverseit te Leiden. Bibliotheek, Leiden, Netherlands Cod. HOLLIS number: olvwork539366

[1] https://earth911.com/inspire/regenerative-agriculture-to-restore-our-earth/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedanius_Dioscorides

[atruebloodwrites]

QOTD: What lengths do you go to for research? When I start writing a book I need to have a clear understanding of the time period. That means thoroughly researching all the elements needed to make the story as authentic as possible. Part of this research for Across a Broken Shore meant doing a deep dive into early twentieth century medical practices. In this case, online antique booksellers and Etsy saved my bacon with these two 1930s-era American Red Cross books. Funny thing is I went back to one of these books for my new WIP as I needed to know the standard practice for treating broken ribs at that time. Sometimes you just never know when your purchases may serve a dual purpose! #acrossabrokenshore #writinghistoricalfiction #writinghistoricalnovels #yahistoricalfiction #yareads #yabooks #historicalresearch #bookresearch #yabookresearch #writingyahistorical #iwriteya #historicaltexts #earlymedicine #medicalresearch #yahistoricalresearch #antiquebooks https://www.instagram.com/p/CQY3dTfLsJG/?utm_medium=tumblr

[oberlincollegelibraries]

Happy Halloween!

In honor of the holiday, Special Collections is sharing our current display of some of our early 19th-century books on surgery. Definitely delivers some shivers! Stop by and visit from 1-4:30pm on weekdays or 5:30-9pm Monday nights.

[librarycompany]

This #libraryshelfie shows a portion(!) of a 2018 gift of Dr. Charles Rosenberg that we are so excited to dig into. Highlighting 18th and 19th century medical history, with emphasis on domestic medicine and botanicals, this collection is  both an example of educational discovery and documentation of how the study of medicine has evolved.

[harvardfineartslib]

Today is National Seed Swap Day.

Since ancient times, herbs and other plants have been used to treat illnesses. This facsimile of a medieval manuscript includes many examples of herbs being used in medical treatments.

Take a good look at the last two images. The seeds depicted sort of look like a virus that we have become well acquainted with, don’t they?

Medicina antiqua : Codex Vindobonensis 93, Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Title (uniform): Medicina antiqua. Introduction by Peter Murray Jones ; [codicological analysis and commentary by Franz Unterkircher, adapted from the Commentary vol. of the original facsimile ed. published by ADEVA in 1972, translated from the German by Reinhild Weiss]. 1st English ed. London : Harvey Miller, 1999. [320], 63 p. : col. facsims. ; 21 cm. Manuscripts in miniature ; no. 4   English Latin Notes: The manuscript, in the collection of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, is a 13th cent. southern Italian copy of a ca. 6th cent. work. Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-63, 2nd group). Facsimile in Latin; commentary in English. Other title: Codex Vindobonensis 93.   ISBN : 1872501206 1999 HOLLIS number: 990096117810203941

[librarycompany]

Check out these beautiful clasps on our copy of De humani corporis fabrica, an illustrated volume on the human body. 

De humani corporis fabrica. Basileae : Per Ioannem Oporinum, 1555. mense Augusto.

[generallygothic]

"In the 19th century, genius was closely linked with tuberculosis. The debilitating disease was thought to fuel writers like Robert Louis Stevenson, even as it consumed them." - Anna Faherty for Wellcome Collection. 📸 State Library of New South Wales, via Wellcomecollection.org. . #generallygothic #gothic #robertlouisstevenson #rlstevenson #jekyllandhyde #drjekyllandmrhyde #wellcomecollection #statelibrarynewsouthwales #newsouthwales #library #statelibrary #saveourlibraries #tuberculosis #tb #consumption #medicine #earlymedicine #gothicnovel #gothicauthor #gothicfiction #victorianmedicine #disease #19thcentury #history #academic