New Rare Book and Special Collection Web Site
Falk Library has an impressive compilation of rare books and special collections, including books dating from the early years of printing to private and personal papers of noted individuals. Information regarding these treasures will now be available on the Web at <www.hsls.pitt.edu/about/libraries/falk/rarebook/index_html>.
Included on this new Web site are collections’ highlights, including mention of our oldest book, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem by Andreas Vesalius, first published in 1543. One writer stated that "the publication of this book was the greatest event in medical history since the work of Galen."
Also detailed is the development of the rare book collection which has been enriched with books from the School of Dental Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC). Biographies of two noted individual donors, Dr. Gerald P. Rodnan and Dr. Mark M. Ravitch, are included with book lists. Ravitch’s books focus on surgery and hernia repair while Rodnan’s concentrate on rheumatism and gout.
Falk Library’s special collections materials include private and personal papers of noted individuals and published materials relating to HSLS people and activities. Two collections of note are the archives of Dr. Thomas Detre and the bound volumes of annual reports from mental hospitals in the United States, published in the mid- to late- 19th century. Detre is the former director of WPIC and former vice chancellor for the health sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and was instrumental in the creation of the University Pittsburgh Medical Center. Contact information for using materials in the collections described above is available on the Web page.
--Leslie Czechowski
