The New York Academy of Medicine is pleased to announce the Annual Friends of the Rare Book Room Lecture for 2006:
"Recreating the Harveian Library of the London College of Physicians"
Roger Gaskell
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
5:30 PM Reception
6:00 PM Lecture
Open to the Public
7:15 PM Dinner
For Friends of the Rare Book Room and Guests
See below for instructions for joining the Friends
Abstract:
On the afternoon of September 4, 1666, with the Great Fire of London raging round St Paul's Cathedral, it was clear that the nearby College of Physicians was doomed. Librarian Christopher Merret managed to save a few books before he was beaten back by the flames; but most were lost. The library building, paid for by William Harvey, had recently been completed to designs by John Webb, a pupil of Inigo Jones. From the surviving architectural drawings we can visualize the building, while the printed catalogue, published in 1660, tells us the exact position on the shelf of every book and sets out the library rules. With these documents Gaskell will try to bring back to life the first specialist medical library in England.
Roger Gaskell:
After taking a degree in biochemistry at Bristol University, Roger Gaskell worked for London's most famous rare book dealers, including Bernard Quaritch Ltd. and Pickering and Chatto Ltd. He established Pickering and Chatto (Publishers) Ltd., now a successful independent business. In 1989 he founded his own business, Roger Gaskell Rare Books. His publications include From Collector to Reader: Bern Dibner and History of Science Collections, in The Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology at 25 Years (Smithsonian Institution, 2001); and Printing House and Engraving Shop: a Mysterious Collaboration, The Book Collector 53 (2004) 213-251.
Save the Date:
Wednesday, May 17
The Lilianna Sauter Lecture
Amy Fairchild and Ron Bayer, The Searching Eyes of Government: Public Health Surveillance in Twentieth-Century America
ALL LECTURES AT 6 PM
This event is free and open to the public. CME credit is available. For more information about NYAM programs in the history of medicine, visit our website at http://www.nyam.org/initiatives/im-histe.shtml , write history@nyam.org , or call Christian Warren at 212.822.7314.
The Academy's Rare Book Room was featured in the New York Times. To read a press release, with a link to the article, visit http://www.nyam.org/news/2258.html .
Historical programs at NYAM are supported by the Friends of the Rare Book Room. Please join the Friends now. Write cwarren@nyam.org for details, or download a membership/renewal form at http://www.nyam.org/initiatives/docs/FRBR_Renewal.pdf .
THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE 1216 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10029
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