Items

Title: La Gigue: Old Dr. Samuel F. Stowe's Dyspepsia Cure or Compound Medicated Lozenges
Description: Trade card advertising Old Dr. Samuel F. Stowe's Dyspepsia Cure or Compound Medicated Lozenges featuring a boy in nautical dress facing the customer. His blue hat has a red feather in it and reads: "Normond." He seems to be standing on a dock. Behind him are an anchor and capsized sailboat.
Conditions Cured (LC): Indigestion
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Anchors, Boats And Boating, Boys, Children, Children's Clothing, Children's Hats, Clothing And Dress, Costume, Hats, Ocean, Sailboats, Sea Life
ID: WH361F
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title

De symmetria partium in rectis formis humanorum

Description

Albrecht Dürer, printmaker and painter of the German Renaissance, was equally famous during his lifetime for contributions to the study of mathematics and proportion. In this text, Dürer treats the arithmetic and geometrical constructions of bodies, largely at rest. Numerous woodcuts represent bodies male and female in various sizes and ages, and register their measurements. The ideas expressed in the De symmetria and the two complimentary volumes that followed, also on human proportion, were widely influential on artists and anatomists for centuries to come. This 1532 text in Latin contains the first two books of the results of this research, first published in German in 1528 as Vier Bücher von menschlicher Proportion (Four Books on Human Proportion.) Dürer died shortly after receiving the first proofs of the German edition; the remaining publication details were completed by his friends. Our copy is bound in stamped pigskin, with a front panel illustrating Jacob’s ladder and a back panel depicting the baptism of Christ. The woodcut monogram Dürer developed in 1497 to protect his work from piracy is visible on the title page.

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Subjects (LC)

Anatomy, Artistic, Anthropometry, Early works to 1800, Human figure in art, Medical illustration, Medicine, Proportion (Anthropometry), Proportion (Art), Wood-engraving—16th century

Title: Ayer's Cathartic Pills: the Country Doctor
Description: Trade card advertising Ayer's Cathartic Pills featuring an African-American man sitting with a little girl on his knee and a little boy sitting on the ground by his feet. The man is in formal attire, including a hat and eyeglasses, and is holding a pill box with the word Ayer's on it in his left hand and a pill in his right hand. The little girl is in a red-and-white, polka-dot dress and is holding a leaflet titled Ayer's Pills. The boy is looking up at them and holds something in his right hand. At the man's feet and the boy's knees is an open medicine case filled with Ayer's products. The back has an image of a bottle with name of the manufacturer on it: J.C. Ayer and lists what ailments Ayer's Cathartic Pills cure.
Conditions Cured (LC): Biliary Tract—Diseases, Constipation, Diarrhea, Dizziness, Dysentery, Edema, Gout, Headache, Heartburn, Hemorrhoids, Indigestion, Jaundice, Nausea, Neuralgia, Rheumatism
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, African American Children, African American Men, African Americans, Children, Children's Clothing, Clothing And Dress, Eyeglasses, Families, Men's Clothing, Old Age
ID: WH120
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Sapanule: Sold By All Druggists
Description: Trade card advertising Sapanule featuring two couples crossing paths in a park. Both couples are formally dress and wearing hats, which the men of each couple are tipping to each other. Between them is a bench. In the distance is a carousel. In the farthest distance are mountains. The back lists the ailments Sapanule can cure.
Conditions Cured (LC): Backache, Bruises, Bunion, Burns And Scalds, Catarrh, Chilblains, Fatigue, Furuncle, Hemorrhoids, Neuralgia, Rheumatism, Sprains, Wounds And Injuries
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Benches, Clothing And Dress, Costume, Ethnic Costume, Garden Walks, Grasslands, Hats, Men's Hats, Merry-Go-Round, Parks, Trees, Women's Hats
ID: WH342
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

$La methode curative des playes, et fractures de la teste humaine avec les pourtraits des instruments$

Title

La methode curative des playes, et fractures de la teste humaine avec les pourtraits des instruments

Description

Ambroise Paré is renowned as the father of modern surgery. In obstetrics, Paré pioneered a new way of turning an infant in the uterus. He also made significant advancements in the treatment of hernias, the fitting of artificial limbs and eyes, and devised a new instrument to reduce hemorrhage after amputation. As with much of his work, the Methode Curative was widely distributed and reached a large audience. Long considered a classic text on the treatment of head wounds, this book contains 74 woodcuts, many hand-colored and adapted from the corpus of Vesalius. The first section, devoted to the anatomy of the head, is illustrated with woodcuts. The anatomical engravings were modified from the woodcuts of Vesalius and completed by the talented Jean le Royer, King’s Printer. The second part of the book details the treatment of head wounds, skull fractures and diseases of the face. Included in this section are drawings of surgical instruments, many fashioned by Paré himself. The book contains the woodcut portrait by Jean Cousin, printed in an oval surrounded by Paré’s motto, “Labor improbus omnia vincit” (hard work conquers all). It is bound in limp vellum, with a gold-tooled vignette on the cover.

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Subjects (LC)

Anthropometry, Early works to 1800, General Surgery, Head—Anatomy, Head—Wounds and injuries, Medical illustration, Medicine, Surgery, Surgery—History, Surgical instruments and apparatus, Wood-engraving, Wounds and Injuries

Title: Ayer's Hair Vigor for the Toilet: Restores Gray Hair to its Natural Vitality and Color
Description: Trade card advertising Ayer's Hair Vigor featuring five mermaids, four of whom arein the forefront in various stages of using Ayer's Hair Vigor. The fifth is swimming off to a ship that seems to be capsizing in the background. The back has an image of an Ayer's Hair Vigor bottle and two brushes. It also lists the ailments Ayer's Hair Vigor helps combat.
Conditions Cured (LC): Baldness, Dandruff
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Boats And Boating, Bottles, Flowers, Hair, Hair—Care And Hygiene, Hairbrushes, Mermaids, Ocean, Ocean—Folklore, Ocean—Mythology, Plant-Water Relationships, Sailboats, Sailing Ships, Women
ID: WH125
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Vaseline Chesebrough Manfg Co.
Description: Trade card primarily advertising Pure Vaseline featuring a beach scene with two children playing in the foreground. They are both wearing yellow hats and playing in the sand with shovels and a single pail. Behind them stands a woman with a parasol. She is in formal dress, with an overcoat, ruffled skirt, and yellow bow on her hip. There are various people on the beach and in the ocean as well is what looks like a cruise ship in the far background. The back contains a poem titled The Elixir Vitae and lists prices for various vaseline products.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthma, Burns And Scalds, Cold (Disease), Croup, Neuralgia, Rheumatism
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Beaches, Boats And Boating, Bows, Children, Children's Hats, Clothing And Dress, Crabs, Hats, Parasols, Ribbons, Sand Pails, Sand Toys, Shovels, Water, Water Waves, Women's Hats
ID: WH369
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Ayer's Sarsaparilla: the Discovery of America
Description: Trade card advertising Ayer's Sarsaparilla featuring five men aboard a sailboat passing a land mass on which there is a large sign that reads "Ayer's Sarsaparilla." Text on the bottom of the card reads "The Discovery of America." The men are in various stages of interacting with one another. From left to right, the first man is looking out at the sea; the second man is holding a book and looks like he is about to speak; the third man is kneeling on one knee and holding out a golden cross; the fourth man is speaking to the fifth man and gesturing toward the land mass; while the fifth man is kneeling with one knee on a pile of rope, his hands on the edge of the boat, and is listening to the fourth. The back shows an image of a bottle of Ayer's Sarsaparilla with a wreath around its neck and text explaining its curative properties.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthenia, Scrofula
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, America, America—Discovery And Exploration, Boats And Boating, Clothing And Dress, Crosses—Cult, Hats, Holy Cross, Islands, Land Settlement, Men, Rope, Sailboats, Sailing Ships, Sea Life, Swords
ID: WH123
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Au Régiment Spécifique Victorieux: La corvée de quartier
Description: Trade card advertising Victorieux featuring an image of five men in white uniforms cleaning the street. They are sweeping and shoveling horse refuse and carting it away in a wheelbarrow. Soldiers (including one playing a trumpet), a horse, and buildings are visible in the background. The back mentions the French army's use of the Victorieux.
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Animals, Brooms And Brushes, Carts And Carriages, Hats, Housing, Men, Men's Hats, Musical Instruments, Refuse And Refuse Disposal, Shovels, Street Cleaning, Streets, Trees, Trumpet
ID: WH372
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title

Publisher’s Prospectus & Order Form, Icones Anatomicae

Description

Andreas Vesalius’s De humani corporis Fabrica of 1543 is probably the most beautiful anatomical atlas produced in the 16th century, and Vesalius spared no expense in hiring extraordinary craftsmen to create the woodblocks. In 1932, Samuel Lambert began raising money for the publication of the Icones Anatomicae, an edition of all of the images from the two editions of the Fabrica (1543 and 1555) and some of Vesalius’s other publications. A search at the University of Munich turned up a box containing 227 of the blocks used in the production of the Fabrica and its companion publication from 1543, the Epitome. The University of Munich agreed to co-publish the volume with Academy. No expense was spared in the creation of the book; fine handmade paper with a special watermark was created especially for the volume, and photographic reproductions of the missing blocks were made and subtly marked in the descriptive tables. Four hundred copies were printed and sent to Academy. The title pages of both the 1543 and the 1555 editions of the Fabrica are included in the Tabulae, along with a number of the skeletons, muscle men and flayed men that are some of the Fabrica’s most iconic images.

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Subjects (LC)

Anatomy, Anatomy, Artistic, Anthropometry, Early works to 1800, Human figure in art, Medical illustration, Medicine, Muscles, Musculoskeletal system, Proportion (Anthropometry), Proportion (Art), Wood-engraving

Title: Queste sono le cose contenute in questo dignissimo Fasciculo di medicina vulgare :... [1509]
Description: The ninth edition of the Fasciculus, printed in Italian in Milan (all other editions featured here are Venetian). The edition was printed by Giovanni de Castellione at the expense of Giovanni de Legnano and his brothers. While both plates and texts are taken from the Venice, 1493 edition, the plates have been reversed and introduce a number of variations. The plate with the circle of urine glasses is colored to correspond to their textual descriptions.
Subjects (LC): Medicine-Early works to 1800, Human anatomy-Charts, diagrams, etc, Genitourinary organs-Early works to 1800, Generative organs-Early works to 1800, Plague-Early works to 1800

Title: Sapanule: Sold By All Druggists
Description: Trade card advertising Sapanule featuring two couples crossing paths in a park. Both couples are formally dress and wearing hats, which the men of each couple are tipping to each other. Between them is a bench. In the distance is a carousel. In the farthest distance are mountains. The back lists the ailments Sapanule can cure.
Conditions Cured (LC): Backache, Bruises, Bunion, Burns And Scalds, Catarrh, Chilblains, Fatigue, Furuncle, Hemorrhoids, Neuralgia, Rheumatism, Sprains, Wounds And Injuries
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Benches, Clothing And Dress, Costume, Ethnic Costume, Garden Walks, Grasslands, Hats, Men's Hats, Merry-Go-Round, Parks, Trees, Women's Hats
ID: WH343
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Fasciculo de medicina : collectorio universalissimo chiamado Fasciculo de medicina, extracto dalla achademia...[1522]
Description: The Arrivabeni published two editions in 1522, one in Latin and the second in Italian. This edition, in Italian, is likely the second edition published that year by the printers.
Subjects (LC): Human anatomy-Early works to 1800, Human anatomy-Atlases-Early works to 1800, Genitourinary organs-Early works to 1800, Generative organs-Early works to 1800, Plague-Early works to 1800, Phlebotomy-Early works to 1800, Materia medica-Early works to 1800, Medicine-Early works to 1800

Title

[Introduction]

Description

The Dutch West India Company occupied northeastern Brazil from 1624 to 1654. In 1638, the physician Willem Piso and astronomer Georg Markgraf arrived as part of Johann Maurits’ research staff, tasked with promoting scientific studies in Brazil. This is the Introduction to their collaborative illustrated folio volume, which spanned 12 books and was published in 1648. Rich in description of native life, the book contains 446 woodcuts illustrating local flora and fauna, and comprises the most important early documentation of zoology, botany and medicine in Brazil.

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Subjects (LC)

Botanical illustration, Early works to 1800, Indians of Central America, Indigenous crops, Indigenous peoples—Ecology, Natural history—Brazil, Natural history illustration, Medical geography, Medicine, Zoological illustration, Zoology—Brazil, Zoology—Pre-Linnean works, Wood-engraving

Title: Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound
Description: Trade card advertising Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound and Lydia E. Pinkham's Liver Pills featuring an image of the Brooklyn Bridge over the East River with many boats sailing below it. One can see the shores of both Brooklyn and Manhattan. The back lists the benefits of the Vegetable Compound and the Liver Pills.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthenia, Backache, Depression, Mental, Headache, Indigestion, Insomnia, Neurasthenia, Peptic Ulcer, Tumors
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Boats And Boating, Bridges, Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.), Brooklyn Bridge (New York, N.Y.), East River (N.Y.), New York (N.Y.), Rivers, Sailboats, Sailing Ships, Waterfronts
ID: WH183
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title

Historae Rerum Naturalium, Liber Sextus, Qui agit Quadrupedibus, & Serpentibus

Description

The Dutch West India Company occupied northeastern Brazil from 1624 to 1654. In 1638, the physician Willem Piso and astronomer Georg Markgraf arrived as part of Johann Maurits’s research staff, tasked with promoting scientific studies in Brazil. This section of the Historia naturalis Brasiliae was written by Piso's colleague, the astronomer Georg Markgraf. Markgraf wrote the last eight sections of the Historia naturalis Brasiliae, of which this is the sixth. These sections as a whole were devoted to the medical uses of plants; to fish, birds, insects, quadrupeds and reptiles; and to full descriptions of geographic regions and their inhabitants. Markgraf also describes the appearance, habits, and environment of each animal depicted.

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Subjects (LC)

Botanical illustration, Early works to 1800, Indians of Central America, Indigenous crops, Indigenous peoples—Ecology, Natural history—Brazil, Natural history illustration, Medical geography, Medicine, Zoological illustration, Zoology—Brazil, Zoology—Pre-Linnean works, Wood-engraving

Title: The Hospital for Special Surgery and The Philip D. Wilson Research Foundation [from back]
Description: Black-and-white postcard showing the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. A view of trees, the East River, East River Drive, pedestrians, and cars parked alongside the building can be seen. | Caption at top left of back describes the hospital. | Card not posted.
Subjects (LC): Hospitals, Hospital buildings, Hospitals – New York (State) -- New York County, Hospital for Special Surgery, Philip D. Wilson Research Foundation, East River Drive (New York, N.Y.), East River (N.Y.), People, Pedestrians, Medicine -- Research, Trees, Clouds
ID: nycm_461
Geographic Subject: Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)

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