The Library’s exhibit space now features a selection of books, illustrations, and art focused on medicine and doctors. The works span two centuries and come from several of the archive’s collections, including the History of Medicine Collection, the Biomedical Communications Collection, and the Medical Artifacts Collection. The pieces on display are not only reference works; some also capture the public’s view of doctors and the field of medicine, contemporary to the time they were created.
The pieces meant for training include human figures from France in the 19th century, oil painting and charcoal works by our own Lewis Waters that capture human anatomy, and depictions of surgical procedures. There are also hand-drawn illustrations from local news cartoonists of the 1940s through the 1960s, prints from French caricature artists, and prints from Vanity Fair’s series on the important men and women of science.
