A history of the library (podcast)

During a stroll through a local bookstore, I ran across this book on the history of "the library" appropriately called The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen. 

This episode of "Travels Through Time", a history podcast, spoke with the authors and delved a little deeper into library history. 

"Of all the accomplishments of human civilisation, the creation of libraries, making the preservation and transmission of knowledge possible, is surely the greatest. In this episode the academics Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen take us back to 1850, a pivotal moment in the history of public libraries."

Civil War Medicine book discussion: October 26 at 1pm CT

For those interested in military medince, the University of South Alabama's Charles M. Baugh Biomedical Library is hosting a virtual book discussion next week. 

18th century medicine

This past spring my family visited Mount Vernon. We marveled at the gardens and architecture, learned about education at Mount Vernon, and the enslaved and free people that worked on the estate. 

Since then I've been reading more about Revolutionary War era America and ran across some interesting posts on medicine in the late 1700's. As always when you read about medicine more than 200 years ago, it makes me glad I am alive in the 21st century. 

Read more below about George Washington's health throughout his life, how his family was touched by cancer, meet his good friend Dr. James Craik, and learn what might have been inside an 18th century medicine jar. 

• Cancer and the Washington family
• George Washington's Health (and his tooth troubles)
• 18th century medicine jar
• Dr. James Craik

Happy 125th anniversary to the Brooklyn Public Library!

As of November 30th, 2022, the Brooklyn Public Library has been serving its community for 125 years!  Today, they revealed that their #1 most circulated book is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  Check out the BPL's website for the full list of their 125 most checked out books and some cool historical photos like the one below.

Description from BPL website:  Two lines of well-dressed children at right and left before circulation counter at Flatbush Branch Library, a Carnegie library (later remodeled) at 22 Linden Boulevard; two female librarians or clerks assisting children; curved wooden railings in foreground; columns, pillasters, and two levels of book stacks behind circulation counter in background.

NLM's Dream Anatomy Exhibition

The National Library of Medicine recently launched their Dream Anatomy Exhibit.

The interior of our bodies is hidden to us.  What happens beneath the skin is mysterious, fearful, amazing.  In antiquity, the body's internal structure was the subject of speculation, fantasy and some study, but there were few efforts to represent it in pictures.  The invention of the printing press in the 15th century ad the cascade of print technologies that followed helped to inspire a new spectacular science of anatomy, and new spectacular visions of the body. Anatomical imagery proliferated, detailed and informative but also whimsical, surreal, beautiful, and grotesque -- a dream anatomy that reveals as much about the outer world as it does the inner self.