Medical Historical Library: Manuscripts

Historical Library | Medical Library

Manuscripts

Dioscorides Pedanius of Anazarbos.De herbis masculinis et feminis
[and other botanical and zoological works, including the
Herbarium of Apuleius]. Lombardy, Italy, about 1400.

Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts

The Historical Library has acquired through Harvey Cushing and other donors over fifty medieval and Renaissance manuscript codices. A partial listing may be found in Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada and its Supplement. The Paneth Codex, one the most significant of the library's manuscript holdings, was acquired in the 1950s through funds raised by the Library Associates. Records for all medieval and Renaissance manuscripts are on ORBIS, the Yale University Library catalog.

Manuscripts have numbered call numbers in the format Manuscript 1 (vault). Search on ORBIS by Call Number(Local).

Persian and Arabic manuscripts

The Historical Library has about 25 Persian and Arabic manuscripts, mostly collected by Cushing, are all on ORBIS. A description by Miroslav Krek is available online.

Modern manuscripts

Besides the collections noted above, the Library holds several hundred individual manuscripts from the 16th to 20th centuries. Records are on ORBIS. In addition, there are individual letters of physicians and scientists, not yet on ORBIS. A listing is available in the Library.

Manuscript collections

The Historical Library does not generally collect the papers of physicians and scientists. Administrative archives and Faculty manuscript collections are held by Manuscripts and Archives, Sterling Memorial Library. A number of collections once held by the Historical Library were transferred to Manuscripts and Archives in the 1980s. These include the Cushing, Fulton, Klebs, Grenfell, and Yerkes papers. The Library retains the originals of Cushing's and Fulton's diaries as well as bound volumes of selected correspondence and memorabilia. The Library also holds the papers of Peter Parker, physician/missionary to China in the 1840s. Finding aids are available below or in the Library.

Among the manuscript collections held by the Historical Library are:

Cushing, Harvey
Fulton, John Farquhar
Goff, Charles - Collection on Christopher Columbus
Grace Goldin Historic Hospital Image Collection
Klebs, Arnold C.
Laetrile Collection
Liebow, Averill W.
Meyer & Macia Friedman DNA Collection
Mitchell, S. Wier
Parker, Peter
Pavlov, Ivan P.
Thoms, Herbert
Tobacco Advertisement Collection

For a partial list of papers of former faculty, see Manuscript Collections of Yale Faculty in Medicine, Nursing and Public Health Held by Manuscripts & Archives.

Yale medical theses

See Yale-related Materials

Historical Library Cushing/Whitney Medical Library Yale University Library Medical Center Yale University