Items

Title: A 6% Dividend Paid in 1912
Description: A single sheet folded leaflet stating that "8,643 children under 5 years of age" were saved in 1912 thanks to a 6 percent reduction in the infant mortality rate from 1911. This "6% dividend" was paid as a result of the increased availablity of clean milk provided by the New York Milk Committee. The inside provides a bar graph displaying the continously falling infant mortality rate from 1901 to 1905, and asks the reader to consider what the record for 1913 will be if this trend can be continued.
Subjects (LC): Infants, Mortality, Milk hygiene, Nutrition, Statistics
ID: mk1e003
Geographic Subject: New York. New York City.
Collection: New York Milk Committee Ephemera Collection

Title: A collection of choise receipts : manuscript, circa 1680-1700
Description: Late 17th-centrury English manuscript divided into two parts: "A Collection of Choise Receipts" and "A Book of Physical Receipts." The first part of the manuscript contains approximately 390 recipes on 254 numbered pages. Of the recipes in the first part approximately 204 are culinary and approximately 175 are for medicines, perfumes, sweet bags, cosmetics, and household cleaners. A large portion of the culinary recipes concern banqueting, particularly fruit preserving; wines, liqueurs, non-medicinal waters, and syrups; and cakes and biscuits. Dinner and supper recipes, such as puddings, meat, poultry, and fish, are also well represented. The second part contains approximately 781 medicinal recipes on 214 numbered pages. Various diseases and conditions such as ague, bleeding, consumption, colic, dropsy, fits, fever, plague, pox, and stone are mentioned. Both parts are followed by indexes. The entire manuscript is written in one very legible hand, possibly that of a professional scribe. The characters "J H" appear frequently in the first part of the manuscript. Many of the recipes are attributed, some to nobility.
Subjects (LC): Cooking, English -- Early works to 1800, Medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions -- Early works to 1800, Traditional medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Manuscripts, English -- 17th century

Title

An Abstract of the Patent Granted by His Majesty King George…

Description

Patent medicines originated in England in the mid 17th century and were marketed with extravagant claims, offering cures for a host of maladies. Recommendations for dosage were vague, and ingredients (often including opium) were usually not specified. In 1726 Benjamin Okell was granted the royal patent for Dr. Bateman’s Pectoral Drops, a tincture of gambir (an astringent extract from an Asian plant) and opium. Advertisements published in the London Mercury as early as 1721 directed prospective customers to the warehouse and printing shop at Bow's Churchyard, where they could purchase the drops for one shilling. Our copy of the 1731 reprint by Peter Zenger is likely the first piece of medical printing in New York. Zenger, who would later become famous for printing seditious texts, was instrumental in establishing freedom of the press in America. The Academy has the only known copy. Bound with our copy of the abstract is a copy of A Short treatise of the virtues of Dr. Bateman's Pectoral Drops, also issued by Okell and his printing house partners. Here, Batemans efficacy as a treatment for numerous ailments are described in sections dedicated to each. The last section of the treatise offers testimonials from satisfied customers.

READ MORE→

Subjects (LC)

Abnormalities, Human, Conception, Early works to 1800, Gynecology, Medicine, Midwifery, Obstetrics, Reproduction, Sex instruction, Sexual behavior

Title: Babies' Pure Milk Station
Description: Form 10,000 5-11, 8-11, a blank form printed in English for recording individualized milk formulas for infants receiving aid from the New York Milk Committee's Babies' Pure Milk Stations. Ingredients to be used include milk top; whole milk; lime water; milk sugar; boiled water; barley water; and oatmeal water. Space for the prescription of formula and for the establishment of a feeding schedule is also provided.
Subjects (LC): Milk, Infants, Bottle feeding
ID: mk1e017
Geographic Subject: New York. New York City.
Collection: New York Milk Committee Ephemera Collection

Title: Blank Forms
Description: Blank forms include feeding instructions, case histories and vital statistics forms.

Title

Care of Magical Creatures

Description

J.K. Rowling’s series, much like sixteenth- and seventeenth-century natural histories, contains many beasts and mysterious creatures, ranging from the recognizable to the fantastic. During that time period, people relied on accounts of travelers and seafarers who documented the exotic creatures they encountered. Study up on these, and you’ll be able to list the differences between the basilisk (a mythical reptile) and your garden-variety snake.

Disclaimer: This exhibition is not licensed or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling.

Title: Cookbook : manuscript, circa 1700s and 180
Description: Manuscript containing mostly culinary recipes from the 18th and 19th centuries. The bulk of the recipes are from the early 18th century and written in two hands. Most concern fruit preserving (23 recipes) and fruit and flower wines (10 recipes). Other early 18th-century recipes include little cakes, stewed dishes, fried pasties, pickles and souses, a collar of beef, potted beef, other meat dishes, and a few medicinal receipts. Three later recipes are also found; one is from the late 18th century or later, and the other two are copied from Eliza Acton's Modern Cooking for Private Families, published in 1846.
Subjects (LC): Cooking, English, Medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Traditional medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Manuscripts, English -- 18th century, Manuscripts, English -- 19th century

Title

Defense Against the Dark Arts

Description

Harry’s scar serves as a constant reminder that it is a dangerous world out there, with powerful wizards capable of great destruction. Familiarize yourself with these Defense-Against-the-Dark-Arts protections, and you’ll feel a little more confident about facing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named…or at least develop some strategies for making it through class unscathed.

Disclaimer: This exhibition is not licensed or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling.

Title

Divination

Description

Advanced wizards eager to answer the question “Where do you see yourself in ten years?” may enjoy reading up on the fundamentals of divination, devoted to strategies for forecasting the future. In case you’re wondering if J.K. Rowling’s centaurs had a monopoly on the art, early modern natural philosophers like Robert Fludd were very much engaged in questions related to astrology and how the planets governed human outcomes.

Disclaimer: This exhibition is not licensed or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling.

Title: Duncumb recipe book : autograph manuscript signed, 1791-1800s
Description: This manuscript consists of approximately 425 culinary recipes and 50 medical and household receipts, many attributed. About two-thirds of the recipes in the culinary section are savory and one-third sweet, many of the former stews and pickled dishes, most of the latter creams and jellies. The medicinal receipts include treatments for worms, coughs, bruises, pain, burns, and other ailments.
Subjects (LC): Medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Traditional medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Cooking, English, Manuscripts, English -- 18th century, Manuscripts, English -- 19th century

Title: Educational Materials

Title

Engravings of the Arteries

Description

This early work by the Scottish anatomist Charles Bell was composed for medical students and aimed to offer accurately and simply-rendered illustrations of the arteries. It was used as a preparatory text for surgical study and practice. The ten engravings in this volume were hand-colored, and labelled with letters corresponding to explanatory descriptions of the arteries on the opposite page. Bell was an accomplished medical illustrator; the engravings were done by Thomas Medland after Bell’s drawings. For Bell, true anatomical understanding was aided in pairing accurate drawing with thorough description. Bell believed that a variety of bodies should be used as subjects, and that the artist must choose the most typical anatomical examples to copy accurately. Bell made important inroads in determining the sensory functions of the nervous system, and was an early advocate of the idea that different parts of the brain controlled different functions; his pioneering work on the brain and cranial nerves influenced the work of other important brain researchers for decades. Chief among his achievements are his very fine medical illustrations, unsurpassed in terms of efficiency of presentation and elegance. These are very much on display in this beautiful book.

READ MORE→

Subjects (LC)

Anatomy, Arteries, Arteries—Surgery, Atlases, Engraving, Medical illustration, Medicine, Nervous system, Surgery, Surgery—History

Title

Facendo Il Libro: The Making of Fasciculus Medicinae, an Early Printed Anatomy

Description

The collection includes five editions of the Fasciculus Medicinae printed between the years of 1495 and 1522. The Fasciculus medicinae—literally, the “little bundle of medicine”—is a small group of independently-authored medical treatises and illustrations first printed in 1491. Remarkable as one of the earliest illustrated medical books to be printed, the Fasciculus was reprinted in dozens of different editions and translated into the major European vernacular languages into the 1520s. The Fasciculus also serves as an important witness to a dynamic period of change, reflecting both medieval medical ideas and new advances spurred by the humanistic surge associated with the Renaissance. This is perhaps best illustrated by the inclusion of the first printed scene of human dissection, an indication of the growing importance of empirical investigations of the interior. The images attached to the Fasciculus are a blend of diagrams copied from medieval manuscripts alongside newer, narrative-based scenes demonstrating the modern taste for classical styles in figures and interiors.

EXPLORE OUR NEW ONLINE EXHIBIT TO LEARN MORE →

This digital collection was made possible by generous support from The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Title: From Basilisks to Bezoars: The Surprising History of Harry Potter’s Magical World
Description: This collection celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the publication of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by showcasing rare books and objects dating back to the fifteenth century that reveal the history behind many of the creatures, plants and other magical elements that appear in the Harry Potter series—from mandrakes to basilisks to Nicholas Flamel and the philosopher’s stone itself. The collection is organized as a fictional study aid for Hogwarts students preparing for their important wizardry exams, the O.W.L.s, with content relating to seven Hogwarts courses.
Disclaimer: This exhibition is not licensed or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling.

Title: Fundraising and Publicity

Title: Gemel book of recipes : autograph manuscript signed, circa 1660-1700
Description: This English manuscript contains approximately 91 culinary recipes, as well as a few household and medical recipes. Most of the recipes are for dishes commonly served at banquets, with approximately 55 of the 91 culinary recipes being fruit preserves and similar conceits.
Subjects (LC): Manuscripts, English -- 17th century, Cooking, English

Title

Herbology

Description

The Academy Library’s collection is particularly strong in early herbals, especially medical botany. In the fifteenth century, printers often used the same woodblocks to illustrate a wide range of plants; a century later, plants are illustrated with much greater attention to detail and accuracy.

Disclaimer: This exhibition is not licensed or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling.

LIBRARY DIGITAL COLLECTIONS & EXHIBITS

Warning message

Pages

Pages