|
Friends of the John Martin Rare Book Room
|
Welcome to the new Friends of the John Martin Newsletter!
Over the coming months, we will use this newsletter to communicate
- the beloved book of the month,
- exciting events,
- articles of interest for book and history of the health sciences lovers,
- guest writers, and
- new ways you can get involved with the Rare Book Room.
We are very excited to announce that the Rare Book Room will have a limited reopening starting August 24. We can accommodate one researcher/visitor at a time. Please make an appointment by contacting Damien Ihrig at damien-ihrig@uiowa.edu.
|
|
Meet the New Curator
|
|
Dear Friends of the John Martin Rare Book Room,
Before moving on to the book highlight for this month, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Damien Ihrig, and I am incredibly excited to start my journey as your new Curator for the Rare Book Room at Hardin Library. I am an Iowa City native and have Masters' degrees in educational measurement and library and information science from the University of Iowa. My wife, Lori, also works for the university, and we have two sons, ages 13 and 18. Throw in a new puppy, hermit crabs, and a thriving monarch butterfly nursery, and there is never a dull moment at our house!
|
|
Professionally, I have held several positions on the University of Iowa campus, most recently as the collegiate registrar for the Carver College of Medicine. I am unbelievably fortunate to have the opportunity to combine my loves of education, special collections librarianship, and the health sciences in the work that I do every day. In addition to my role as curator, I also assist with other aspects of Hardin Library operations and am the liaison to the departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry.
I know I have big shoes to fill, following in the footsteps of the recently retired Donna Hirst and Ed Holtum before her. I look forward to the challenge of providing you with the information and service you have come to expect from the Rare Book Room while putting my spin on things.
Never hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. Also, please let me know if you have topics or book selections you would like to suggest for the newsletter. I wish you all good health and happy reading!
|
|
|
|
|
An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae, 1798
EDWARD JENNER (1749-1823). An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae: a disease discovered in some of the western counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire, and known by the name of the cow pox. Printed for the author by S. Low. 1798. 2 unnumbered pages, iv, 75 pages, 4 leaves of plates: color illustrations (engravings). 26.8 cm. BOUND WITH: Further observations on the variolae vaccinae, or cow pox. Printed for the author by S. Low. 1799. 64 pages, with a separate title page.
August is National Immunization Awareness Month, so enjoy this selection of related works by Edward Jenner. Jenner was a country physician in England during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and he created the first vaccine for smallpox (as opposed to variolation, which introduced smallpox material – for example, fluids or scabs – into wounds on the uninfected). Based on an old country tradition that milkmaids who had contracted cowpox were not susceptible to smallpox, Jenner decided to experiment by injecting cowpox-infected lymph into a local boy. After vaccination, the boy was immune to smallpox and Jenner continued his experiments.
In 1798 he published An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae: a disease discovered in some of the western counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire, and known by the name of the cow pox, the results of a long and successful series of case histories. By 1803 his work had been translated into numerous languages, and his method of immunization was taken up with amazing speed, becoming almost universally adopted. Garrison has called Jenner's work "one of the greatest triumphs in the history of medicine" (Fielding H. Garrison, An introduction to the history of medicine. 4th ed. Philadelphia, 1929. p. 372). It is the foundation of all subsequent work in immunology and virology.
|
|
|
An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae, 1800
EDWARD JENNER. An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae: a disease discovered in some of the western counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire, and known by the name of the cow pox. [Includes Further observations on the variolae vaccinae, or cow pox]. Printed for the author by S. Low. 1800. 2nd ed. 1 unnumbered page, vii, 182 pages., 4 leaves of plates: color illustrations (engravings). 25.6 cm. BOUND WITH: A continuation of facts and observations relative to the variolæ vaccinæ, or cow pox. 41 pages, with a separate title page.
Jenner's early work met with strong opposition from among the medical profession. In 1800 he published the second edition, which contained two titles, Further observations on the variolae vaccinae... and A continuation of facts and observations relative to the variolæ vaccinæ, or cow pox, to strengthen his case.
The John Martin Rare Book Room is fortunate enough to have copies of his first and second editions, as well as two facsimile copies of the first edition. The first edition is bound in brown calfskin, with gold-stamped decoration on the front and back covers and for the spine titling. The endpapers consist of lovely pastel marbling with marginalia inside the front and back pages. The paper is in excellent condition, with minor foxing throughout. The second edition is bound in a half cover of red Morocco and marbled paper, with gold stamped spine titling. There is foxing throughout with marginalia on the inside front and back covers. The first facsimile was printed in 1966 in London by Dawsons. It is bound in dark brown Buckram. The second facsimile is a special edition published by the Classics of Medicine Library. It was printed in Birmingham, Alabama in 1978, and bound with a dark blue, full leather cover. The cover and spine are decorated with a gold-stamped prairie motif, while the marbled endpapers have fun shades of blue and purple.
Please contact me at damien-ihrig@uiowa.edu if you would like to arrange a time to view any of these items!
|
|
|
|
