Online Historical Medical Images at Duke
Engravings and Illustrations of Famous Doctors and Anatomists
Sep 28, 2009
The Medical Center Library of Duke University holds Historical Images in Medicine collections that comprise over 3,000 photos, illustrations and engravings. The collections consist of
- the Ophthalmodouleia of Bartisch, who was the founder of modern ophthalmology, contains 107 slides of 91 woodcuts
- the Bookplate Collection (450 medically-related bookplates)
- the Four Seasons, 17th-century copperplate engravings
- the Steward Album, a collection of 206 photos of famous 19th-century doctors.
The online historical medical images of the Duke Medical Center Library collection include portraits of doctors, anatomical figures, drawings of skeletons, woodcuts of the anatomy of the head and eye, slides of 17th-century copies of a 14th-century Persian manuscript anatomy treatise, 17th-century copperplate engravings of anatomy and many 19th-century photos of patients with venereal and non-venereal diseases.
Engravings and Illustrations of Famous Doctors
The Historical Images in Medicine database is searchable online by keyword, format (engraving, drawing, etching, illustration, woodcut, slide, oil painting, lithograph, etc.), location and collection. Engravings of famous doctors or physicians include those of
- Guillaume de Baillou (1538-1616), the French doctor and founder of modern epidemiology. He was the first to describe the whooping cough, measles, plague and diphtheria. He also defined rheumatism.
- William Cullen, the Scottish 18th-century physician and chemist. He was influential in the classification of diseases (febrile, nervous and local).
- Regner de Graaf, the 17th-century Dutch physician and anatomist who made remarkable contributions to the study of the human reproductive system (his name is associated with the ovarian follicle).
- Jean Fernel (1497-1558), French doctor who was first to describe the spinal canal.
Engravings and Illustrations of Famous Anatomists
Apart from the extensive collection of anatomical figures and images, the Historical Images in Medicine includes portraits of famous anatomists such as
- Andreas Vesalius, the Brussels-born 16th-century anatomist and author of De humani corporis fabrica, or On the Structure of the Human Body, who is considered the father of modern human anatomy.
- Gabrielle Falloppio, the 16th-century anatomist, doctor and student of Vesalius, whose work involved the anatomy of the head and the ear. Falloppio was also a pioneer in the study of the genital tract.
- Nicholas Tulp (1593-1674), the Dutch surgeon who performed public dissections in Amsterdam using the bodies of hanged men.
- Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, the18th-century physician, physiologist and anatomist who divided the human species in five races based on craniometrical research.
- Henry Gray, the famous 19th-century British anatomist, whose human anatomy textbook, Gray's Anatomy, is a classic work and still in print today.
Reproduction of Medical Images
The online historical Medical Images available are not publication quality and should not be reproduced without permission. Images required for publication are subject to a fee. They can be requested through interlibrary loan in which case a digital file will be provided.
Related Articles on Historical Medical Images
- Historical Medical Images of Surgery at Wellcome: Illustrations of Surgical Operations, 16th-19th century.
- Vesalius and the Anatomy Illustration: Anatomical Images and Historical Illustrations, Wellcome Library
Sources
Dukes University Medical Center Library Online
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