End Papers

One of the things I do in my day job is curate our collection of paintings and artifacts, including a stacks library of more than 50,000 books, ranging in age from the early 1600’s to the mid-1980’s. Sadly, there is no longer the need for a librarian, because so much of what we have has either been digitized, or it’s hopelessly out of date. However, I probably get a request every other week to hunt up some esoteric piece of information, like the application to our organization for the doctor who treated Edgar Allen Poe before he died, or some long-forgotten book, like an early 1800’s medical school anatomy text.

In looking through these books, I’ve found that they’re a treasure trove of gorgeous end papers! This is a Spanish moiré patterned end paper. I think it’s one of my favourites!

This week, while I was looking for an original patent that is somewhere in our files, I grabbed my camera to capture some of the different end papers I saw in my search. Who knew that each of the patterns had names?

French Curl

Bouquet or Peacock pattern

Turkish pattern

Schroëtel pattern

Shell pattern

In addition to the marbleized patterns, there were also some lovely printed end papers.

And then there are the book covers!

It’s always such fun to see what I discover when I explore the stacks!  For more information and explanations of the marbling techniques, check out this collection from the University of Washington’s library. Here.

Happy Birthday, Sir William!

On July 12th, we celebrate the 165th anniversary of the birth of Sir William Osler, a man who was elemental in the growth and life of MedChi as it entered its second hundred years.

Dr. Osler arrived in Baltimore in 1889, and stayed for 16 years. During that time, he was responsible for establishing the medical program at the newly formed Johns Hopkins Hospital. But it is what he accomplished at MedChi that we are ever thankful for.

When Osler arrived in Baltimore, MedChi was located at offices on Eutaw Street, which housed a small library of fewer than 5,000 mostly outdated volumes, and the librarian who lived on site. In short order, he joined MedChi, got involved in the Library and Journal Committees, helped hire a new professional librarian, Marcia Noyes, and began donating both books and funds to MedChi. He continued this tradition long after he left Hopkins and Baltimore. He was also responsible for getting MedChi to investigate and then build a purpose-build headquarters building, which we still occupy today. Our Osler Hall and Osler Hallway are named in his honor.

Osler’s most famous work, The Principles and Practice of Medicine, was published up until 2001 and in many languages. It made him very famous and very wealthy. In fact, he pledged his full salary to Hopkins during his tenure there.

Osler’s real claim to fame was the way medical education was conducted. He moved it from the academic to the practical. He established the interns/residents system of teaching medicine – a clinical clerkship – where the medical students would learn by doing. He advocated making rounds of the wards and bedside teaching, involving the patient.

At age 40, Osler was married to Grace Revere Gross, a widow whom he’d met in Philadelphia, and who was a descendant of Paul Revere. They had two children, one of whom died in infancy, and the other Revere, who was killed during World War One. He died in Oxford, England where he was Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University.

After his death, a book fund was established at MedChi in his name, and hundreds of books were purchased with the funds raised. A special bookplate was created by the medical illustrator and engraver, Max Brödel who was a friend of Osler’s. Going through the books in our stacks library, we still find numerous volumes with this bookplate as the front-piece.

MedChi is honored to have been associated with Sir William Osler, M.D. and his influence still echoes through our halls.

For more information, please check out the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine’s Profiles in Science about Sir William. Here.

Ex Libris: The Bookplate Collection, Part III

I was showing one of our History Committee members some of the bookplates today, and he was fascinated. Of course, this reminded me that I needed to put some more of the bookplates on the blog. I think we stopped at H last time, so we’ll move on from there.

Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs’ wife endowed Johns Hopkins Medical School, with the proviso that they admit women.

Death rather than disgrace.

Art is long, life is short.

Which is your favorite?

War of 1812 Physician: Lennox Birckhead

Lennox Birckhead was born in Cambridge Maryland on February 27, 1794 and was the son of Dr. Solomon Birckhead. He received his A.B. from Dickinson College in 1813. He was a defender of Fort McHenry at the Battle of Baltimore in 1814. He went on to receive his medical degree from the University of Maryland in 1817. Dr. Birckhead attended the Hotel Dieu in Paris.

For 16 months beginning in 1855, he was the author of Letters for the Times in Baltimore, and A Voice from the South in Baltimore in 1861. Dr. Birckhead died in Baltimore of Bright’s disease on September 2, 1865.

This is the family’s house and it is on the grounds of Catonsville Community College. The house, known as Hilton, for its hilltop location overlooking the Patapsco River, was purchased by Dr. Birckhead in 1825 and was originally a stone farmhouse. It was re-fashioned into this property in the 1920’s. Details on the house are here. Dr. Birckhead sold the property in 1837.

5th Annual Hunt Lectureship: Dr. William Beanes Speaks

O, Say Can You See?

Please join the Center for a Healthy Maryland for the Fifth Annual Hunt Lectureship on Wednesday, June 25, 2014. This year’s speaker is Fort McHenry Ranger Paul Plamann who portrays MedChi Founder, William Beanes, M.D.

Dr. Beanes is the forgotten man behind our National Anthem, which celebrates its 200^th anniversary in September. Dr. Beanes, a country physician in Southern Maryland, was taken captive by the British Army and Francis Scott Key was dispatched to negotiate for his release… To find out the rest of the story, please join us at the Hunt Lectureship.

Ranger Plamann has portrayed Dr. Beanes for more than 25 years and knows the story of Dr. Beanes’ early life on his family’s estate in Upper Marlborough, Prince George’s County, his role in the founding of MedChi in 1799, and his role in the War of 1812.

The Fifth Annual Hunt Lectureship will begin with a reception at 5:45 and the lecture will begin at 6:30 with the singing of the National Anthem. Tickets are free, but reservations are necessary. Please e-mail events@medchi.org, or call 410-539-0872, ext 3336.

This lecture is one of the Star-Spangled 200 events.

We hope to see you at the Lecture!

War of 1812 Physician: Jacob Shellman Baer

Jacob Shellman Baer was born on May 22, 1783 in Frederick County, Maryland, a son of Henry Baer. He attended the University of Pennsylvania where he received his medical degree in 1808. He became a surgeon’s mate to the 16th Regiment of Western Maryland Troops at the Battle of North Point in September of 1814.

Dr. Baer was a vice president of the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland from 1848 to 1851. He became our President from 1855 to 1856. For more than 57 years, Dr. Baer practiced medicine in the city of Frederick and the town of Middletown, both in Frederick County. Dr. Baer died in Frederick County on April 10, 1866 and is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery there.

Jacob Shellman Baer’s brother, Michael Shellman Baer, was also a physician and a President of MedChi in the 1850’s.

War of 1812 and MedChi

You might know that this summer is the Star-Spangled Summer in Baltimore, and MedChi is proud to be a small part of the city’s celebrations of the 200th Anniversary of the writing of our national anthem.

The Medical & Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, which was founded only 13 years before the War of 1812 began, helped to provide medical care to the soldiers and sailors defending our country in the Battles of Bladensburg, North Point and Baltimore. Throughout the summer of 1814, which was when these battles actually took place, our physicians were involved in many ways.

From Dr. William Beanes, who was the unknown man behind the National Anthem, to Dr. James McHenry, after whom Fort McHenry is named, these men all had a role in the War of 1812.

Over the summer, I will be highlighting each of the MedChi members who had a part in the War, and providing a brief biography and a portrait, if one’s available.

We are working with Baltimore Heritage’s 1814 project, and the Star-Spangled 200 commission to help highlight some of men who defended Baltimore. I hope that you will follow along with us as we move towards September 14, 2014, the 200th anniversary.

If you’d like to read more about the Battle of Baltimore and the flag which flew at that time, I can recommend two very good books:

• The Dawn's Early Light was written by Baltimorean Walter Lord, who penned A Night to Remember, the story of the Titanic. It is fun to follow along, day by day, as the events happen, so you get a real-time feeling for how long it took from the burning of Washington to the bombardment of Baltimore.
• The Star-Spangled Banner: The Making of an American Icon is the story of the flag which flew over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore, from the time it was acquired by the Smithsonian in 1907, through its restoration in the early 2000’s.

Be sure to check Star-Spangled 200’s website to keep up with everything that’s happening in Baltimore for the next three months. It’s going to be lots of fun!