Items

Title: Fasciculus medicine in quo continentur : videlicet. [1495]
Description: This is the fourth edition of the Fasciculus and the third printed in Venice (after 1491 and 1493 editions both also by the Brothers Gregorii). It was printed in Latin and reset in Gothic type. In this edition, the page is shorter by four lines, resulting in plates that are too large and in many cases, clipped by the binder. This is the earliest edition with a real title page. Our copy lacks the urinoscopic consultation plate and the plate showing the circle of urine glasses.
Subjects (LC): Medicine-Early works to 1800, Medicine, Medieval, Human anatomy-Early works to 1800, Human anatomy-Charts, diagrams, etc, Plague-Early works to 1800, Phlebotomy-Early works to 1800

Title: Hoffman home remedies collection : manuscript, circa 1775-1850
Description: This manuscript contains approximately 45 medical receipts on 88 pages (about half are blank). Includes remedies for piles, wens, warts, burns, fever, croup, rheumatism, and gravel, among others. Some remedies are accompanied by prayers. The manuscript is in predominately one hand, possibly that of Susanna Weinbrech Hoffmann (1742-1803) or Lydia Henkel Hoffman. The only confirmed hand in the book is that of William Hoffman (1809-1886), Lydia's son, on the last page of the book.
Subjects (LC): Medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Traditional medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Manuscripts, American -- 18th century, Manuscripts, American -- 19th century, Manuscripts, American -- 19th century, German Americans -- Maryland

Title: Approved receipts in physick : manuscript, circa 1650-1700
Description: Manuscript recipe book consisting of mostly medical formulas, as well as some culinary recipes and a few alchemical preparations. Predominately in two unidentified hands. There are approximately 480 medical recipes (467 numbered) and 21 culinary recipes. Includes remedies for sores, burns, wounds, ailments of the eyes, complexion, "greene sickness," colds, coughs, and more. Most of the recipes are unattributed, but there are a few exceptions, including a receipt for "Sr Walter Rawley's great cordiall". Culinary recipes include syrups, wines, meats, pickles, preserves, and waffles. The book was probably compiled in the second half of the 17th century.
Subjects (LC): Cooking, English, Medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions -- Early works to 1800, Traditional medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Cooking, English, Manuscripts, English -- 17th century

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: Burdock Blood Bitters
Description: Trade card advertising Burdock Blood Bitters featuring a portrait of a woman in elegant dress with a red, feathered hat that is adorned with a large B pin of sorts on which is written Burdock Blood Bitters. She is wearing gold jewelry, including a choker with a B on it. Her dress is blue with lilies on it, and she has a small rose pinned to the front of her dress. The back has testimony from satisfied users.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthma, Catarrh, Cold (Disease), Croup, Hemorrhoids, Rheumatism
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Clothing And Dress, Feathers, Flowers, Gold Jewelry, Portraits, Women's Hats
ID: WH241
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title

Apicius [De re culinaria Libri I-IX]

Description

This manuscript contains 500 Greek and Roman recipes from the fourth and fifth century, both culinary and medical, reflecting the polyglot culture of the Mediterranean basin. Sometimes referred to as the oldest extant cookbook in the West, the manuscript is divided into ten books. It is likely that the Apicius began as a Greek collection, mainly written in Latin, and adapted for a Roman palate. The collection is likely compiled from many sources, as no evidence exists that Apicius (a Roman gourmet in 1st century AD), authored a book of cookery. Our manuscript was penned in several hands in a mix of Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian scripts at the monastery at Fulda (Germany) around 830 AD. It is one of two manuscripts (the other at the Vatican) presumed to have been copied from a now lost common source. The Apicius manuscript is the gem of the Academy’s Margaret Barclay Wilson Collection of cookery, acquired in 1929.

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Subjects (LC)

Cookbooks, Cooking, Latin peoples, Cooking, Mediterranean, Cooking, Roman, Early works to 1800, Manuscripts, Medicine

Title: Ayer's Cherry Pectoral Cures Colds, Coughs & all Diseases of the Throat and Lungs
Description: Trade card advertising Ayer's Cherry Pectoral featuring an oversized bottle labeled Ayer's with two children at its side. The boy, on the left, is sitting and touching the bottle with his right hand and holding a spoon in his left. He is wearing a white tunic and red-and-white-striped socks. The girl, on the right, is standing, ostensibly trying to reach the top of the open bottle with her right hand, which holds a spoon. She is wearing a white, frilled dress, white stockings, a white bonnet tied with a blue ribbon, and blue Mary Janes. There is an enlarged branch with cherries on it in the top, left corner, and another, smaller sprig in the bottom, center. The back has images of two hands, one pouring a bottle, and one holding a spoon to catch the liquid. Listed on the back are the ailments Ayer's Cherry Pectoral cures.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthma, Catarrh, Cold (Disease), Cough, Croup, Influenza, Laryngitis, Throat—Diseases, Tuberculosis, Whooping Cough
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Bottles, Cherry, Children, Children's Clothing, Clothing And Dress, Nature, Spoons
ID: WH119
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Ayer's Cherry Pectoral Cures Coughs Colds &c: Penn's Treaty
Description: Trade card advertising Ayer's Cherry Pectoral featuring an image of a meeting between seven colonists (William Penn and others) and seven Native Americans. The Native Americans sit and stand to the left, and the colonists on the right present two scrolls that read "Ayer's Cherry Pectoral and Cures Colds, Coughs, &c." William Penn is holding a medicine bottle. The image is loosely based on Benjamin West's oil painting "The Treaty of Penn with the Indians." The back has an image of hands pouring medicine into a spoon in the upper left and text listing the curative properties of Ayer's Cherry Pectoral.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthma, Catarrh, Cold (Disease), Cough, Croup, Influenza, Laryngitis, Throat—Diseases, Tuberculosis, Whooping Cough
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Clothing And Dress, Ethnic Costume, Hats, Indians Of North America, Indigenous Peoples, Men, Treaties
ID: WH117
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Ayer's Cherry Pectoral Cures Colds, Coughs & all Diseases of the Throat and Lungs
Description: Trade card advertising Ayer's Cherry Pectoral featuring an oversized bottle labeled Ayer's with two children at its side. The boy, on the left,is sitting and touching the bottle with his right hand and holding a spoon in his left. He is wearing a white tunic and red-and-white-striped socks. The girl, on the right, is standing, ostensibly trying to reach the top of the open bottle with her right hand, which holds a spoon. She is wearing a white, frilled dress, white stockings, a white bonnet tied with a blue ribbon, and blue Mary Janes. There is an enlarged branch with cherries on it in the top, left corner, and another, smaller sprig in the bottom, center. The back has images of two hands, one pouring a bottle, and one holding a spoon to catch the liquid. Listed on the back are the ailments Ayer's Cherry Pectoral cures.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthma, Catarrh, Cold (Disease), Cough, Croup, Influenza, Laryngitis, Throat—Diseases, Tuberculosis, Whooping Cough
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Bottles, Cherry, Children, Children's Clothing, Clothing And Dress, Nature, Spoons
ID: WH118
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Parker's Ginger Tonic
Description: Trade card advertising Parker's Hair Balsam and Parker's Ginger Tonic featuring a formally-dressed man sitting in an armchair defending himself against devilish creatures with an oversized box of Parker's Ginger Tonic. On the creatures' wings are written various ailments the Tonic cures. There is a broken crutch by the man's feet. The back describes the ailments the Balsam and the Tonic cure.
Conditions Cured (LC): Body Fluids, Cold (Disease), Cough, Dandruff, Diarrhea, Heartburn, Indigestion, Itching, Neuralgia, Rheumatism, Tuberculosis
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Clothing And Dress, Costume, Crutches, Demonology, Devil, Domestic Space, Folklore, Men, Mythology
ID: WH318
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Dr. White's Celebrated Cough Drops [from verso]
Description: Trade card advertising Dr. White's Cough Drops featuring a sailboat in a body of water at sunset. To the left is a a rocky outcrop with a lighthouse. At the top of the card are a bunch of pansies. The back lists the ailments the Cough Drops can cure.
Conditions Cured (LC): Cold (Disease), Cough, Hoarseness
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Boats And Boating, Flowers, Lighthouses, Nature, Ocean, Pansies, Rocks, Sailboats, Sunset Phenomena, Water
ID: WH379
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills
Description: Trade card advertising Morse's Indian Root Pills featuring a young girl sitting in a field with a dog. The girl is holding a snack in her right hand. The dog, on her left, is facing her. The girl is in a blue-and-white dress and is wearing a crown of blue flowers. The back has text explaining the benefits of Morse's Indian Root Pills.
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Animals, Children, Children's Clothing, Clothing And Dress, Dogs, Flowers, Food, Grasses, Hair Ornaments, Nature, Wreaths
ID: WH306
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Vegetine: The Great Blood Purifier
Description: Trade card advertising Vegetine featuring two young children and a basket of animals. Within the basket are a lobster, who is pinching the left-most child's clothing, and a duck or goose. The right-most child is liftng the top off of the basket that contains the animals. The back has testimony from a satisfied customer.
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Animals, Baskets, Children, Children's Clothing, Children's Hats, Clothing And Dress, Costume, Ducks, Hats, Lobsters
ID: WH371
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Ayer's Sarsaparilla
Description: Trade card advertising Ayer's Sarsaparilla featuring an image of a man in a dressing gown holding a bottle of Ayer's Sarsaparilla and reading a paper advertising the medicine. A woman wearing a bonnet and a dress with lace cuffs and collar reads over his shoulder and clasps his arm. The back explains the product's health benefits and has an image of an animal intertwined with the word "MIND."
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthenia, Body Fluids, Catarrh, Eczema, Furuncle, Indigestion, Lymph Node, Rheumatism, Tuberculosis
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Bottles, Clothing And Dress, Lace And Lacemaking, Men, Men's Clothing, Sarsaparilla, Women, Women's Clothing, Women's Hats
ID: WH111
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Burdock Blood Bitters
Description: Trade card advertising Burdock Blood Bitters featuring a portrait of an extravagantly-dressed woman with gold jewelry, flowers adorning her headdress and dress, and a tambourine. The back lists the benefits of taking Burdock Blood Bitters.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthenia
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Clothing And Dress, Embroidery, Flowers, Gold Jewelry, Musical Instruments, Portraits, Shawls, Tambourine
ID: WH127
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Dr. White's Celebrated Cough Drops [from verso]
Description: Trade card advertising Dr. White's Cough Drops featuring a group of four people in a row boat rowing towards a sailboat. In the background is another sailboat and a cloudy sky. At the top of the card is a bunch of orange and pink flowers. The back lists the ailments the Cough Drops can cure.
Conditions Cured (LC): Cold (Disease), Cough, Hoarseness
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Boats And Boating, Clouds, Flowers, Nature, Ocean, Sailboats, Water, Water Waves
ID: WH378
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: This is all right, Hood's Sarsaparilla Can't Fool me twice
Description: Trade card advertising Hood's Sarsaparilla featuring an elderly man outside a pharmacy looking at a box of Hood's Sarsaparilla. He is wearing a yellow jacket and holding a red umbrella under his left arm. Behind him are buildings and a fountain. The back is an advertisement for a concert as well as a description of the ailments Hood's Sarsaparilla can cure.
Conditions Cured (LC): Headache, Indigestion
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Animals, Clothing And Dress, Drugstores, Fountains, Hats, Men, Men's Hats, Owls, Portraits, Umbrellas, Water
ID: WH388
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title

Aristotle’s Masterpiece, Or The Secrets of Generation displayed in all the parts thereof

Description

Published initially in 1684 and popular in both America and England for over two hundred years, this became the most widely reprinted medical book in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The contributions of the Masterpiece were not particularly scientific, but drew largely from Hippocrates, and Galen, as well as other classical and medieval writers. The source material came from two earlier books: Levinus Lemnius’s Secret Miracles of Nature, originally published in Latin in 1599, and The Complete Midwives Practice Enlarged (author unknown). Chapter headings include sections titled, “The Signs of Barrenness” “The Way of getting to a Boy or a Girl,” “How a Midwife Ought to be Qualified” and “A Word of Advice to both Sexes in the Act of Copulation.” The information this title offered on conception, pregnancy, and childbirth wasn’t particularly innovative; many seventeenth century discoveries in gynecology are absent from the text and replaced by Hippocratic pathology, or by superstition. The “Aristotle” of the title was pseudonymous, and likely evoked by the book’s author to give the tome scientific credibility. The book’s true author is unknown, though Culpepper and William Salmon, an English physician and author, are sometimes credited.

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