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Art and the History of Medicine: Other Resources

Duke Medical Archives

Duke Medical Center Library & Archives - Medial Center Archives actively collects the official records of DUMC and DUHS departments and divisions, including a variety of materials that provide evidence of the business, interests, and activities through of the years. Centralizing materials and relieving individual offices of the burden of storing and servicing records promotes greater and more efficient use of records. Archives is supported by the School of Medicine and is administratively part of the Medical Center Library.

Duke University Medical Garden - Herbal treatments are a long tradition in medicine for treatment of diseases and conditions. The Medical Garden was created so faculty, students and staff could explore the common herbs and plants used to treat illnesses over the years.

Historical Images in Medicine (HIM) - Encompass photographs, illustrations, engravings, and bookplates from the history of the health and life sciences.

Apothecary jars - These tin-glazed earthenware jars were collected by Dr. Josiah C. Trent from about 1945 until his death in 1948 and are on loan at the Medical Center Library & Archives from the Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Foundation.

The Richmond House Room - Houses medical artifacts from the Medical Center Library & Archives collections.

National Library of Medicine

Historical Anatomies on the Web - Digitized images from selected historical anatomies in the NLM.
​National Library of Medicine Digital Collections - The National Library of Medicine's free online resource of biomedical books and videos. All of the content in Digital Collections is freely available worldwide and, unless otherwise indicated, in the public domain. Digital Collections provides unique access to NLM's rich resources.
​National Library of Medicine Images from the History of Medicine - The collection includes portraits, photographs, caricatures, genre scenes, posters, and graphic art illustrating the social and historical aspects of medicine dated from the 15th to 21st century.
National Library of Medicine: Medicine in Americas - Over 11,000 medical and health e-texts published in the Americas between 1610-1920. Includes Canada and South America.
National Library of Medicine Turning the Pages - Digitized images of rare and beautiful historic books in the biomedical sciences. Visitors may ‘touch and turn’ these pages in a highly realistic way. They can zoom in on the pages for more detail, read or listen to explanations of the text, and (in some cases) access additional information on the books in the form of curators’ notes. 
Vesalius " On the Fabric of the Human Body" - Digitized edition of Vesalius' classic work.
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Collections at Other Institutions

Elizabeth Blackwell's "A Curious Herbal" - Digital edition from the British Library.

Country Doctor Museum Collections - The oldest museum in the United States dedicated to the history of America's rural health care. It was created in 1967 by a group of energetic women from North Carolina, whose initial interest was to build a lasting memorial for rural physicians. Over the decades, the Museum's collection grew to over 5,000 medical artifacts and many volumes of historic texts gathered from across the nation. The interpretive range also expanded from rural doctors to include topics such as nursing, pharmaceuticals, and home remedies.

The Disability History Museum - The Disability History Museum hosts a Library of virtual artifacts, Education curricula, and Museum exhibits. These programs are designed to foster research and study about the historical experiences of people with disabilities and their communities.

Medical Heritage Library - The MHL’s growing collection of digitized medical rare books, pamphlets, journals, and films number in the tens of thousands, with representative works from each of the past six centuries, all of which are available here through the Internet Archive.

Transforming Vesalius - Extensive images from the newest translation of "De humani corporis fabrica".

Wellcome Images - One of the richest and most unique collections, with themes ranging from medical and social history to contemporary healthcare and biomedical science.