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History of Medicine

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Here Today, Here Tomorrow: Varieties of Medical Ephemera
Here Today, Here Tomorrow: Varieties of Medical Ephemera banner. Here Today, Here Tomorrow is written in brown lettering above Varities of Medical Ephemera written in blue letter. Addiction written in blue lettering below an image of a woman laying in a bed with two children at her side. AIDS written in blue lettering below a red AIDS ribbon Bookplates written in blue lettering below an illustration of a man leaning against a stack of books holding a rod of Asclepius in his left hand. Children written in blue lettering below a color image of a boy sitting in a chair playing doctor on a dog lying on a table while three girls look on. Medical Education written in blue lettering below an illustration of a doctor making patient rounds in a hospital with three students attending. Medicine Show written in blue lettering below a color illustration of the cover of Graphic Scenes Kickapoo Indian Life in the South and West. Public Health written in blue lettering below a diagonal half white half black illustration with a cigarette in the center surrounded by a red circle with a line through it. The bottom right black diagonal has Thank you for not smoking here written in white lettering. Tuberculosis written in blue lettering below a predominantly blue poster with white and yellow lettering. In the center is an illustration of Santa Claus holding a little girl in one arm and an oversized Christmas seal in the other hand. Buy Christmas Seals Fight Tuberculosis is in yellow lettering at the bottom. Women written in blue lettering below a black and white image of a woman standing and taking the pulse of a man sitting in a chair. In the upper left corner are the words The Lady Doctor in black lettering.

Medical Education

In the nineteenth century, an admission card was necessary for attendance in medical, pharmacy and dental schools; the student paid for the course in advance and received the card duly signed by the professor. Such cards, frequently including images of college buildings or coats of arms, at times carry the signatures of well-known physicians; the matriculation ticket for William P. Vail for the Rutgers Medical Faculty in 1827-8 was signed by Valentine Mott (1785-1865), a pioneer in vascular surgery. Diplomas and certificates for graduation or for course attendance often included engravings of medical scenes. A handsome example of such a certificate is that given to one William Mathias (not shown) in 1816 certifying his attendance at a course given at the London Hospital. It is signed by two surgeons and a physician and is surmounted by an engraving of the hospital in the background, with Christ and his disciples in the foreground.

Color lithograph trade card with the title Cubes de Bouillon Oxo, Chimistes Celebres, inauguration de l'Ecole Chimique a Londres par A. G. Hofmann (1846) on the bottom. An inset of the head and shoulders right side view of a man with a beard. The marjority of the lithograph is a man at a podium speaking to man seated around the room as two men carry out a chemical experiment behind him.

Cubes de Bouillon Oxo,
Chimistes Célèbres,
color lithograph trade card,
n.p., c. 1885,
7 x 10.5 cm.

Color cover of the Thirty-fifth commencemtn of the Allentown Hospital, School of Nursing. The cover is cream colored and there is a green circle towards the top with the words School of Nursing, Allentown Hospital. Within the center of the circle is a red cross on a cream background.

Allentown Hospital,
School of Nursing. Thirty Fifth Commencement...,
color folder,
Allentown, PA, 1936,
16.3 x 10.7 cm.


Cream colored admission card for the James Wilson for the Course of Anatomical Demonstration by James Mercer, M.D., in Edinburgh, November 6, 1844.

Course of Anatomical Demonstration of James Mercer, M.D.,
admission card,
Edinburgh, Scotland, 1844,
7.3 x 11.5 cm.

Color lithograph trade card titled Dupuytren et ses eleves featuring a doctor making patient rounds in a hospital with three students attending. Inset in the bottom left corner is a head and shoulders portrait of Dupuytren.

Dupuytren et ses élèves,
color lithograph trade card,
France, c. 1890,
13.8 x 8.9 cm.


A cream colored Matriculation ticket from the Geneva College, Rutgers Medical Faculty,for 1827-8.

Geneva College, Rutgers Medical Faculty,
Matriculation ticket,
New York, 1827,
8 x 11.8 cm.

color lithograph trade card with the title Scenes de la vie de Liebig with the words Veritable Extrait de Viande Liebig on the bottom. The lithograph is Liebig giving a demonstration with men seated in three row around the room.

Veritable Extrait de Viande Liebig,
Scènes de la vie de Liebig,
color lithograph trade card,
n.p., c. 1885,
7 x 10 cm.


A cream colored invitation from the The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain to a conversazione on Tuesday evening the 20th May at half past eight o'clock.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain,
invitation to a conversazione,
England, c. 1885,
11.1 x 16.8 cm.

An admission card of Mr Keats Robinson Fisk to a course of lectures on anatomy and physiology and a course of lectures on the theory and practice of surgery at the School of Medicine, Richmond Surgical Hospital, Dublin, 1834-35.

School of Medicine, Richmond Surgical Hospital...,
admission card,
Dublin, Ireland, 1834,
15.7 x 9.9 cm.


A cream colored admission card to Rutgers College's Anatomy Dissecting Class for Isaac M. Ward.

Rutgers College,
Anatomy Dissecting Class,
admission card,
New York, 1826,
9.2 x 13 cm.

A cream colored engraved certificate that certifies that John Spurrier regularly attended the weekly examinations of the Midwifery class 1834-35.

This is to certify that John Spurrier regularly attended the weekly examinations of the Midwifery class...,
engraved certificate,
England, 1834,
17.3 x 11.7 cm.


A brown cover for Beecham's Help to Scholars published by the Proprietors of Beecham's Pills.

Proprietors of Beecham's Pills,
Beecham's Help to Scholars,
16 page pamphlet,
New York, c. 1913,
14.1 x 10.7 cm.

Last Reviewed: January 25, 2024