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De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem: Part Two-Provenance 

McGovern Historical Center Card Catalogue

By Kelsey Koym, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian Introduction This blog post is about the provenance of McGovern Historical Center’s copy of the first edition of Andreas Vesalius’ De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem (De Humani), or “On the Structure of the Human Body in Seven Books,” published in 1543. Before this investigation, McGovern was […]

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De Humani Corporis Fabrica: the Crown Jewel of the McGovern Historical Center Part One  

Anatomical Drawing from De Humani corporis fabrica libri septem

By Kelsey Koym, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian at McGovern Historical Center Introduction Every year the McGovern Historical Center staff spends a week in the Rare Book Room during the Christmas season, taking care of administrative and preservation tasks. McGovern houses a valuable series of collections, and these tasks are prioritized to ensure the longevity of these historical artifacts. […]

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The Pocket Physician: Decoding a Bavarian Alchemical Manuscript

By Tara Sims, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian At first glance, this manuscript appears to be a quiet, little book—small, battered, and difficult to read. Located in the Texas Medical Center’s Rare Book Room vault, where the library’s most valuable and rare books are stored, this manuscript had little to no documentation regarding either the […]

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Toxic Love: How a Victorian-Era Obsession with Bold Color Haunts Libraries, Archives Almost Two Centuries Later

Melissa Tedone, the associate director of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, helped launch the University's Poison Book Project, which tests the covers of antique books for toxic heavy metals. Here, she holds a copy of "Marmion."

By Tara S. Sims, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian. Introduction Books, typically seen as harbingers of knowledge and culture, can also have somewhat of a sinister side, particularly when looking closely at their anatomy and the historical period in which they were made and published. Archivists and Special Collections Librarians, Tara Sims and Kelsey Koym, […]

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Herman Detering History of Photography and Psychiatry collection

[Hermann Detering standing in front of bookshelves in the Detering Book Gallery, undated. MS203-b2f11-file4-roll2-020, Herman Detering History of Photography and Psychiatry collection, McGovern Historical Center, TMC Library]

Newly processed! The Herman Detering History of Photography and Psychiatry collection has been processed and a finding aid is available at https://archives.library.tmc.edu/ms-203. Herman Eberhard Detering, III, was the longtime owner of the Detering Book Gallery, a rare book store in the Houston area. His grandfather H.E. Detering, Sr., founded The Detering General Store, which was […]

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The Legacy of Dr. John P. McGovern: An Archival Expedition

[Dr. McGovern conducting research at Baylor College of Medicine in 1959. MS 115 John P. McGovern, MD Papers, scrapbook box, folder 16, McGovern Historical Center, Texas Medical Center Library.]

by Tara Sims, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian. In the sprawling city of Houston, one common thread binds together several attractions and major institutions—the name McGovern. From McGovern Lake to the McGovern Children’s Zoo, the McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science to the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth and the McGovern Historical Center, it’s […]

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Windows into the McGovern Historical Center

TMC Library Exhibit Featuring McGovern Historical Center Archival Collections

by Matt Richardson, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian October is Archives Month! The TMC Library is celebrating with a special opportunity to support the McGovern Historical Center. Help us secure the history of the Texas Medical Center. https://library.tmc.edu/mcgovern/2022/09/28/give-2-history-secure-the-past/ Since the McGovern Historical Center is headquartered a couple miles south of the main TMC Library, visibility […]

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McGovern Medical Medallions Ready for Research

MS 200 Tray 1 McGovern Medical Medallions including Sigmund Freud and Marie Curie.

by Matt Richardson, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian. Attention numismatists, exonumists, historians of medicine, and lovers of all things McGovern! Your friendly neighborhood archivists are proud to announce the availability of the MS 200 John P. McGovern Medical Medallions Collection. This collection consists of medallions commemorating people, conferences, and other events in the history of […]

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“I Question" by Anonymous

by Kelsey Koym Archives Intern The Menninger collection contains hundreds of books spanning the various periods of psychological history and its specialties. Although the idealization of Freud and his near idol-like status saturate many of the pages of these books, unique items will stand out written by the patients of these medical professionals. One of […]

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