Items

Title: Pomet's Bezoar with Goat
Description: The French druggist Pierre Pomet devotes a section of his comprehensive history of drugs to bezoars, explaining that the stones appear in the stomachs of cows, apes, and goats. Pomet's goat leaps over a bezoar, sliced open like a geode to reveal its efficacious core. Pomet argues that this bezoar, produced in the belly of a high-leaping wild goat common in the East Indies, would promote sweat and drive away malignant humors. We'd wager Monsieur Pomet, apothecary to Louis XIV, could give even Snape a run for his wand in a battle of the Potion-Masters.
Collection: How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course

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

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: Lykosthenes' Salamander
Description: Konrad Lykosthenes tells us in 1557 that the salamander has a highly toxic venom, so strong it would taint all of the fruit on a tree it climbed. He also connects the animal with fire, arguing that the salamander can put out flames with its touch. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, salamanders are born from flames; Fred and George also feed one fireworks as a prank, and it releases tangerine stars (not inappropriate given the stellar designs on this fellow's back). Don't let the twins give you any ideas or that'll be ten points from Gryffindor.
Collection: How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course

Title: La Marée Montante, Au Secours!!
Description: Trade card featuring druggists John H. Sheehan & Co. featuring four figures playing on a shore. There are two boys and two girls. The boys seem to be helping the girls get to and from a large boulder without getting their clothes wet. There are sailboats in the background. The back lists the company advertised and its address.
Subjects (LC): Advertising, Boats And Boating, Bows, Boys, Children, Children's Clothing, Girls, Marine Algae, Nature, Ocean, Ribbons, Rocks, Sailboats, Water
ID: WH211
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Dr. J. H. Schenck & Son's Family Medicines
Description: Trade card advertising Schenck's Pulmonic Syrup, Schenck's Seaweed Tonic, and Schenck's Mandrake Pills featuring a bouquet of roses on a black background. Back lists the products the card is advertising.
Conditions Cured (LC): Indigestion, Tuberculosis
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Bouquets, Flowers, Nature, Roses
ID: WH346
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Malena is the best remedy on Earth [from verso]
Description: Back of trade card advertising Malena, a remedy for skin disorders and joint diseases. Text provides instructions on use for various ailments.
Manufacturer: Malena Co. (Warriors Mark (Pa.: Township))
Language: English
ID: WH300
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Bronx

Title: Dissection Scene

Title: Leo, Astronomicae Veteres
Description: Master printer and innovator Aldus Manutius produced some of the finest early books printed in Venice. His extraordinary collection, the Scriptores Astronomici Veteres, included four astronomical texts that date from the Hellenistic period through imperial Rome. This star-studded Leo is one of many constellations illustrating the Greek poet Aratus's Phaenomena, one of the few illustrated works produced by the Aldine Press (they're modeled on earlier woodcuts produced by another Venetian printer, Erhard Ratdolt for his star atlas in 1482). Leo has special resonance for Hogwarts students as the sign of both Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling herself: both were born on July 31, and the lion is the regal animal behind Harry's house. Hail, Gryffindor!
Collection: How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course

Title: Kircher's Three-headed Dog full
Description: This engraving, found in Athanasius Kircher's two volume work on music, depicts Orpheus playing the hellhound Cerberus to sleep in order to gain passage to the Underworld. In classical sources, Cerberus was not usually so easily tamed: to the Greeks, he was a monstrous three-headed dog. A glance at Cerberus was said to petrify humans, and his bite was poisonous. Most Greek sources describe Cerberus as possessing three heads, as does Fluffy, the fearsome guard dog who blocks passage to the underground vault guarding the philosopher's stone. Spoiler alert: Harry and his friends take a cue from Orpheus's book and soothe Hogwarts' vicious pup by picking a drowsy tune.
Collection: How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course

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: Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup
Description: Trade card printed on two sides advertising Mrs. Winslow's soothing syrup, a painkiller in syrup form for infants.
Subjects (LC): Interiors, Mothers and children
Language: English, French, German
ID: WH382
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: The Morning Prayer [from verso]
Description: Trade card advertising Dr. D. Jayne's Carminative Balsam, Dr.Jayne's Tonic Vermifuge, and Dr. Jayne's Sanative Pills featuring an elderly woman with a male toddler on her lap and a young girl standing by her right side. There is a cat playing with a shoe by her left foot. She seems to be in a sewing room of sorts, teaching the two children how to position their hands in prayer. The back features the curative properties of the items advertised.
Conditions Cured (LC): Cholera, Diarrhea, Dysentery, Fever, Gastroenteritis, Helminths, Indigestion
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Animals, Babies, Cats, Children, Children—Prayers And Devotions, Children's Clothing, Domestic Space, Dress And Clothing, Dwellings, Families, Morning Prayer, Older People—Prayers And Devotion, Prayer, Scissors And Shears, Women's Hats
ID: WH162
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Pix Liquida Compound [from verso]
Description: Trade card printed on two sides advertising Pix Liquida Compound, a cough remedy.
Subjects (LC): Birds, Flowers, Vines
Manufacturer: Auburn Drug and Chemical Co., [s.l.]
Language: English
ID: WH331
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Lykosthenes' Phoenix with Flames
Description: One of the earliest descriptions of the mythical phoenix dates to Herodotus, who described a bird with red-and-gold plumage that appears in Heliopolis once every 500 years. This woodcut is from the Alsatian chronicler of curiosities and humanist Konrad Lykosthenes. Worried this distressed rara avis will go the way of kindling? Not a chance! Not only is the Order rooting for him, but, as Dumbledore's patronus, we're pretty sure he's on the rise, especially on Burning Day.
Collection: How to Pass Your O.W.L.s at Hogwarts: A Prep Course

Title: Put Upon Their Feet [from verso]
Description: Trade card printed on two sides, advertising Burdock Blood Bitters.
Subjects (LC): Collars, Feathers, Hats, Women
Language: English
ID: WH131
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Urine Wheel Diagram
Description: The urine wheel diagram is yet another visual trope adapted from medieval manuscripts. Urine texts were very popular, and while the urine consult scene appears to be original to the Fasciculus medicinae, several medieval medical texts included this circular diagram to aid a physician in remembering the various attributes of urines, and what they indicated about a person’s health. It is set up like a wagon wheel, with the urines grouped together by color. The outer edge of the wheel describes each color in detail by comparing it to a common object; for example, “The color of this urine is yellow like gold.” The inner circle of the diagram further divides the urines into groups of colors, and what producing a urine in that color signified about a person’s digestion and overall health. In each of the four corners of the page outside of the diagram are descriptions of the four temperaments, sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic, and what urine colors meant in regard to a person’s humoral balance. 1495: The urine wheel diagram is not in this 1495 version, for reasons unknown. 1500: In this version, the artist has tried to represent the urine colors using the color descriptions at the base of each jar around the wheel. This diagram also includes an introduction discussing the Fasciculus at the top center of the page, as well as a brief few lines of verse mentioning the connections between the four humors, the four elements (earth, air, fire, water), and the four complexions or temperaments. All were thought to be tied together, and revealed much about a person’s personality and physical tendencies. 1509: The urine wheel is the only image in the 1509 edition that includes color. The urines are lightly painted to correspond to their textual descriptions. Unfortunately, a large part of the upper portion of this page has been damaged, and subsequently repaired. The same few lines of verse describing the temperaments and complexions (translated into Italian) can be seen at the bottom of this page between the descriptions of phlegmatic and melancholic temperaments. 1513: The 1513 version is essentially the same as the 1500 version, although without the colors. 1522: The 1522 version is the same as the 1513 and 1500 versions, but translated into Italian and lacking any color.

Title: Ayer's Cherry Pectoral
Description: Trade card printed on two sides advertising Ayer's Cherry Pectoral, a syrup for colds and coughs.
Subjects (LC): Cherries, Hats, Women
Manufacturer: J.C. Ayer & Co. (Lowell (Mass.))
Language: English
ID: WH225
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: 34. Answer to "Observations on the phrenological development of Burke, Hare, and other atrocious murderers, &c. By Thomas Stone, Esq.," &c.
Collection: The Resurrectionists

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