Translating Forbidden Authors: New Evidence on the Alchemical Library of Don Antonio de' Medici

Research into the history of alchemy and Paracelsianism in Italy has highlighted the role of Italian courts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as centres of elaboration and diffusion of alchemical knowledge. Among these, one of the best known is the Medici court which already dedicated spaces in the ducal foundry to the alchemical arts in the time of Cosimo I. This interest would remain alive with Francesco I and his son, Don Antonio de' Medici, one of the greatest supporters of Paracelsian medicine in Italy. This contribution presents previously unpublished sources, now preserved in the Archivio di Stato di Firenze and in the collection of the Biblioteca degli Intronati in Siena, that can help us reconstruct in greater detail some significant aspects of Medici alchemical engagement and can, above all, help further determine Paracelsus's influence in seventeenth century Florence.

The beginnings of health libraries of the Czech Brothers Hospitallers in the 18th century

During some 150 years in the 17th and 18th centuries the network of convents with hospitals and pharmacies run by the Brothers Hospitallers was established in the Czech Lands. At that time the members of the Order made use of quite a large amount of early modern European health literature. Although the need of those books was closely connected with the main mission of the Order, their position in convents was marginal at the beginning and depended on the personality of individual friars. For a long time, the Czech Brothers Hospitallers were forced to use second-hand literature (even from the 16th century) which was not replaced by new volumes until the moment when the convents overcame the "birth pangs" of the founding years (end of the 18th century). The study deals with the facts that are mentioned above on the basis of the hitherto ignored archive sources coming from Prague, Kuks, Nové Město nad Metují, Prostějov, and Vizovice. Key words: brothers hospitallers pharmaceutical literature medical literature 17th century 18th century history of libraries pharmaceutical history.

[The library of Chinese Medical Association in the Republican Period]

The library of Chinese Medical Association was founded in 1925. The source of books and periodicals in the library are mainly from purchasing and donation. The library provides services such as lending, exchanging books, translating and publishing the contents and abstracts of medical journals in Chinese and other languages. It has played an active and important role in promoting medical development in the period of Republic of China.

Visiting Old Libraries: Scientific Books in the Religious Institutions of Early Modem Portugal

Knowledge of libraries and book collecting is a preliminary task for the characterisation of scientific culture and practice. In the case of Iberia, and especially Portugal, this is still a desideratum. This paper provides a first global look at this issue. In early modem Portugal religious institutions organised impressive collections of books, by far the largest in the country These libraries not only served the religious institutions themselves, but also supplied books to lesser libraries, such as the University Library of Coimbra and the Royal Library. The Portuguese book market mirrored the purchase and selection of books made by religious congregations. This was also true for the circulation of scientific books, which depended above all on the interests, choices and cultural relations of these most peculiar book collectors.

[The presence of charity books in the inventory of the College of Pharmacy]

The inventory of the Library of the College of Pharmacy was redacted in 1781-1782 and was completed in 1787. It contained seven charity books : Toutes les CEuvres Charitables by Philibert Guybert, Les Secrets touchant la Medecine, Le Medecin et le Chirurgien des Pauvres by Paul Dubé, La medecine abbreggée en faveur des Pauvres by the same Paul Dubé, Le Traité des-Maladies les plus fréquentes by Helvetius, Les Remedes faciles & domestiques by Mrs Fouquet, and the Manuel des Dames de Charité by Arnaut de Nobleville and his co-authors. If these seven books were representative of the charity books in France, they only represented 2 percents of the total amount of books mentioned in the inventory. That is not surprising because this kind of books were not redacted for pharmacists but for not educated people. All these books had been published before the middle of the 18th century and the charity books recently published were not present. That comforted the hypothesis that the books of the Library came only from gifts by members of the College at the end of their Professional life.

[History of trichinellosis in the history of the catalog of the French National Library]

The Open Line public access catalogue of the French National Library was consulted for the following key-words: trichine, trichinose, Trichina, trichinellose. Around 50 monographs in French were published during three periods: 1860-1869, 1880-1889 and 1970-1979. The 1970-1979 wave was linked with the emergence in Paris and its region of an outbreak related to horse-meat consumption. The 1880-1889 wave is explained by an economical war between Europe and the United States of America. The 1860-1870 wave occurred when the parasite cycle and the human disease were identified in Germany by Virchow and Zenker. In addition, some political and economic events could have increased the fear of the disease.

[Pharmaceutical History of the Capuchin Monastery in Prague-Hradčany Part I. Monastic Pharmacy]

Based on a profound examination and thorough evaluation of archival materials and preserved equipment, the article provides a unique perspective on the unknown history of pharmacy at the capuchin monastery in Prague-Hradčany. The intramural pharmacy was established around the year 1680, and was practised to 1822. The article identifies the capuchin pharmacists and their line of succession. Pharmaceutical literature from the monastic library is listed and described, including rare manuscripts. The preserved high baroque equipment of the pharmacy is described in detail, and an iconography analysis of the hidden meaning of its unique decoration is offered.Key words: pharmaceutical history capuchins monastic pharmacies baroque.

From Shell Shock to Shellac: The Great War, Blindness, and Britain's Talking Book Library

Britain's Talking Book Service began as a way of providing reading material to soldiers blinded during the First World War. This account traces the talking book's development from the initial experiments after the War to its debut and reception among blind soldiers and civilians in the 1930s. It has been put together using archives held by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (before its Royal Charter, the NIB) and Blind Veterans UK (formerly St. Dunstan's), the two organizations responsible for Britain's Talking Book Service. The essay's first section reconstructs the search for an alternative way of reading that would benefit people with vision impairments. The next part demonstrates the talking book's impact on the lives of people with disabilities, recovering the voices of blind readers left out of most histories of books, literacy, and reading practices in the twentieth century. The final section reconstructs a debate over the value of recorded books, showing that disputes over their legitimacy are as old as recorded books themselves. In sum, this essay confronts the central issue raised by the convergence of books, media, and disability in the War's aftermath: can a book talk?

[Military Knowledge: War Sciences and Army Libraries in France in the 19th Century (c. 1800-c. 1900)]

This article analyses the development of military knowledge in France in the 19th century, both in terms of production of knowledge (especially through the Dépôt de la Guerre) and of transmission through a network of army libraries. The strategic dimension of this form of knowledge required a direct intervention of the state, to control or restrict the publication of sensitive data. State intervention was also necessary to coordinate and generate a unified, applied military knowledge using data submitted by members of different army branches, or by civilians. The work of military librarians and bibliologists was all the more difficult because of the very wide range of sciences which could be used by the army. Growing state intervention and public funding were thus essential for the production and transmission of military knowledge.

[Vesalius and the flat of Daremberg]

Who was Charles Daremberg? Why and how did he become interested in Vesalius? Why was he unable to really understand his work? Why did he tone down the general tune of praise?

[The treasure of the American Society of Anesthesiologists: Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology]

The origin of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Wood Library of Museum (WLM) can be traced back to the early 1930s when Dr. Paul Meyer Wood donated his collection of books and medical devices to the New York Society of Anesthetists. The WLM's current activities go beyond collection and preservation of the historical materials and publication and sale of history-related books. The WLM publishes and sells history-related books, and provides anesthesia related materials and information to the society members, as well as the public in general. The on-going programs initiated by the WLM encourage one to study history (WLM Fellowship in Anesthesiology) and honor the established anesthesia historians (WLM Laureate of History of Anesthesia). At the annual ASA meeting, the WLM has also its own lectures and symposium sessions, such as 'Patrick Sim Forum on the History of Anesthesiology' 'Lewis H. Wright Memorial Lecture' and 'History Panel'. These activities are partly supported by a group of anesthesiologist-historians (Friends of WLM). The Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists' Museum was founded in 2011 and it is still in its infancy. In order for the museum to be fully functional, Japanese anesthesiologists will be able to learn from the well-established anesthesiology museum/libraries, such as the WLM.

[Science cultures in the global perspective. Thoughts on content design and operation of the Leopoldina Study Center]

The Leopoldina Center for the Study of the History of Science and Science Academies is a place to openly discuss the cooperation between science and society across all of the disciplines represented at the Leopoldina and beyond. This dialogue shall, by all means, also include researchers who are not members of the Leopoldina and people from outside of the academia who are interested in the topic. Like the Leopoldina, its Study Center builds bridges: between various academic disciplines, across generations and in local, national, and international communities. All interested members of the Leopoldina--not just members from the humanities, the social sciences or the behavioral sciences, but also scientists from the areas of the natural sciences, technology, the life sciences and physicians--are kindly invited to incorporate their research interests, with regard to the history and theory of their respective academic disciplines, in the research portfolio of the Leopoldina Study Center. In so doing, the Leopoldina Center for the Study of the History of Science and Science Academies should and will become a source of energy for permanent reflection and innovation when contemplating the issues of science and society.

The twopenny library: the book trade, working-class readers, and 'middlebrow' novels in Britain, 1930-42

Twopenny libraries first appeared in North London in 1930 and quickly spread throughout urban Britain. Their innovation was to dispense with subscription fees and charge per loan. Unlike older commercial libraries such as Mudie's, twopenny libraries served a working-class clientele. Some twopenny libraries were standalone businesses. Many more were sidelines to existing businesses such as tobacconists' and newsagents' shops. Library services could be profitable in their own right, but often their main value to their proprietors was to bring customers into the shop more regularly. Established players in the book trade initially responded to twopenny libraries with alarm, but the threat they posed was limited. Their market was not the same as those of booksellers. Some public librarians made arguments along these lines about the twopenny libraries' impact on public libraries; certainly, the two types of institution coexisted. Twopenny libraries carried a lot of so-called light fiction, but they also lent working-class readers the 'middlebrow' bestsellers of the 1920s and 1930s. The wider significance of the twopenny library lies in the way it problematizes the distinction commonly made between a middle-class public for new hardcover novels and a working-class readership of fiction that appeared in cheap papers and magazines.

Magic, Mind Control, and the Body Electric: "Materia Medica" in Sir Walter Scott's Library at Abbotsford

This chapter examines the medical texts, or "Materia Medica", held by Sir Walter Scott in his library at Abbotsford. While the vast majority of Scott's medical texts are antiquarian, his library also contains rare tracts and ephemera relating to the medical practice of the infamous quack, Dr James Graham (1745-94), and the Burke and Hare controversy of 1828 and its aftermath. Examining Scott's holdings of medical texts in relation to his own health and that of his family and friends, it is argued that the lack of contemporary medical self-help texts in his library is striking and indicative of his stoical attitude towards health, despite his clear interest in medical culture.

[Space for the new. Archive - library - study center]

This article features a short outline of both the architectural history and the inventories of Leopoldina's archive and library. Moreover, the article presents the construction plans that will--when implemented in the near future--generate and provide outstanding working facilities in the form of a building ensemble consisting of an archive, library and study center. The future infrastructure of these Leopoldina buildings, located in the area of Emil-Abderhalden-/August-Bebel-Strasse, will sustainably foster and support the establishment of research projects at the Leopoldina Study Center.

[Dr. Joseph Chazanowicz (1844-1919) and the National Library in Jerusalem]

Dr. Joseph Chazanowicz (1844-1919), was a Russian physician, and founder of the Jewish National Library in JerusaLem. After completing his studies at the Jewish school and at the gymnasium of Grodno, Chazanowicz went to Königsberg, Germany to study medicine and finished his studies in 1872. Returning to Russia, he began to practice at Byelostok's Jewish hospital. Chazanowicz founded the Hovevei Ziyyon ["Lovers of Zion"] society and also the Linat Ha-Zedek ("Hospice for the Poor")--caring for the poor. In 1890 he visited Palestine and conceived the idea of founding a library in Jerusalem, together with the B'nai B'rith organization. In 1896 he sent his large collection of books, amounting to nearly 10,000 volumes, to Jerusalem as the beginning of the Abarbanel library. The enlargement of this library and the collection of funds to erect a special building for it became the life-work of Chazanowicz.

[Science and society. Guidelines for the Leopoldina Study Center]

In order to adequately perform its many diverse tasks as a scholars' society and as the German National Academy of Sciences, the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina needs to view itself in a historical context. This can only happen as part of a culture of remembrance which fosters the memory of the Leopoldina's past and subjects this to a critical analysis in the context of the history of science and academies. The newly founded Leopoldina Study Center for the History of Science and Science Academies is to be a forum that pursues established forms of historical research at the Leopoldina, organizes new scientific projects, and presents its findings to the public. The aim is to involve as many Leopoldina members as possible from all of its disciplines, as well as to collaborate with national and international partners.

Stolen and lost copies of Vesalius's Fabrica

Thefts and losses of precious books are not rare. Here we report several incidents concerning vesalius's Fabrica: the fire of the University Library of Leuven in Belgium, the fate of the collection of the Leopoldina Library of Halle in Germany, the thefts from the Crerar Library in Chicago and in Christ Church College in Oxford, the disappearance of an exceptionally beautiful 'royal' copy from the Castle of Argenteuil (Belgium), and other Fabrica's missing at the Franeker Library in the Netherlands and at the Library of oradea in West Romania. Finally the means of protecting precious book collections are discussed in short as well as the importance of book identification.

[Looking at several fleeting hygiene journals from the 19th Century kept at the National Library of France]

The authors investigate some ephemeral reviews of private and public hygiene of the 19th century in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). They examine the general context of their publication, describe them according to the usual bibliographic criteria, analyse their aims and content, and try to understand why they were so ephemeral. These reviews are in a very poor state and computerisation, they hope, might give them a new life.

Medical education in late antiquity from Alexandria to Montpellier

The training of medical students reflects current medical trends and has grave repercussions on the future development of the medical art. This is as true today as it was in Antiquity. There was, however, one period and place at the crossroads of civilisations and cultures in which the educational trends were to have a particularly important influence on how medicine evolved. This was Alexandria in Late Antiquity. In a climate where medicine and philosophy were heavily intertwined, teachers used formal philosophical concepts in order to organise medical knowledge. Their educational techniques provided the tools with which Islamic authors during the medieval period such as Avicenna (Ibn Sinā, d. 1037) arranged their great medical encyclopaedias. These works in Latin translation later became the core curriculum in the nascent universities of Europe.

[Spanish authors in the ideal library of G. Naudé (1627): a European view of the Spanish culture and science at the beginning of the 17th century]

This article aims to analyze a European view of the 17th century Spanish culture. Naudé's "Advis pour dresser une bibliothèque" (1627) - translated twice into English: "Instructions concerning erecting of a library" (1661) and "Advice on establishing a library" (1950) - represents a wide set of bibliographic recommendations that constitute, among many other things, an excellent observatory of the Spanish culture in such a delicate time.

[Natural scientists and medical bibliography in the Dominican Monastery of Dubrovnik]

This article speaks about Dubrovnik's Dominicans who were engaged in natural studies or wrote medical dissertations. It brings a list of manuscripts and printed works kept in the Dominican monastery library. These include six incunabulae and more than 200 works on anthropology, anatomy, hygiene, pharmacy, and general, theoretical, and practical medicine, internal and cerebral medicine, orthopaedics, surgery, ophthalmology, psychology, and gerontology. Tractates on all kinds of diseases, especially contagious, and their treatment, are also included. A portion of these works comes from donations by various doctors who worked in Dubrovnik, and others were acquired for the needs of the monastery pharmacy. These works were written in Latin, Italian, French, German, and Croatian. Such a wide range of works on almost all aspects of medicine is more akin to a professional library of a medical college than to a monastery library, howevergrand or important it really is.

Botany and zoology in the late seventeenth-century Philippines: the work of Georg Josef Camel SJ (1661-1706)

Georg Josef Camel (1661-1706) went to the Spanish colony of the Philippine Islands as a Jesuit lay brother in 1687, and he remained there until his death. Throughout his time in the Philippines, Camel collected examples of the flora and fauna, which he drew and described in detail. This paper offers an overview of his life, his publications and the Camel manuscripts, drawings and specimens that are preserved among the Sloane Manuscripts in the British Library and in the Sloane Herbarium at the Natural History Museum, London. It also discusses Camel's links and exchanges with scientifically minded plant collectors and botanists in London, Madras and Batavia. Among those with whom Camel corresponded were John Ray, James Petiver, and the Dutch physician Willem Ten Rhijne.

Humphry Davy and the Royal Institution of Great Britain

The abortive attempts of Sir Humphry Davy to introduce modest reforms at the Royal Society of London during his Presidency (1820-27) contrast with his (largely unstudied) earlier experience of administration at the Royal Institution of Great Britain (RI). Davy's attempts to combat the systemic weaknesses in governance and funding, and his role in effecting changes at the RI, in association with a core group of reformers, merit consideration. This paper analyses important aspects of the early management and social structure of the RI and examines the inner workings of the institution. It shows how and why the Library, its most valuable financial asset, and its celebrated Laboratory, developed along distinctive lines, each with its own support structures and intra-institutional interests. While acknowledging the roles traditionally ascribed to Count Rumford and Sir Joseph Banks, the paper highlights the contributions of other early patrons such as Thomas Bernard, son of a colonial governor of Massachusetts, and Earl Spencer, a leading European bibliophile and RI President from 1813 to 1825. The promotion of a Bill in Parliament in 1810, designed to transform the RI from a proprietary body politic into a corporation of members, and the subsequent framing of the bye-laws, provided opportunities to establish a more democratic structure of elected committees for the conduct of science.

[The textual research on the medical work of Wang tao]

Wang tao began to learn TCM as soon as he grew up, his teachers were proficient and famous doctors. He traveled and learned from them for several times and grasped their medical thoughts and technologies, therefore achieved profound medical accomplishments. Taking advantage of his medical background and occupation, he collected fifty and sixty kinds of medical data in prescription books of Jin and Tang dynasty from treasured books of Hong wen museum in Tianbao fifth to sixth years (746 -747) , when he served as Jishizhong of Ministry of Counseling and Functionary Management and administrated Hongwen museum. He then sorted them and compiled the famous work: Waitai Miyao (Arcane Essentials from the Imperial Library) in Tianbao 11th year (752).

Byzantine medical manuscripts: towards a new catalogue, with a specimen for an annotated checklist of manuscripts based on an index of Diels' Catalogue

Greek manuscripts containing medical texts were inventoried at the beginning of the 20th century by a team of philologists under the direction of Hermann Diels. The resulting catalogue, however useful it was when new and still is today, needs to be updated not only because some manuscripts have been destroyed, certain collections and single items have changed location, new shelfmark systems have been sometimes adopted and cataloguing has made substantial progress, but also because in Diels' time the concept of ancient medicine was limited, the method used in compiling data was not standardized and, in a time of manual recording and handling of information, mistakes could not be avoided. The present article is an introduction to a new catalogue of Greek medical manuscripts. In the first part, it surveys the history of the heuristic and cataloguing of Greek medical manuscripts from the 16th century forward; in the second part, it highlights the problems in Diels' catalogue and describes the genesis and methods of the new catalogue, together with the plan for its completion; and in the third part, it provides a sample of such a new catalogue, with a list of the Greek medical manuscripts in the libraries of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

"So long as I can read": farm women's reading experiences in Depression-era South Dakota

During the Great Depression, with conditions grim, entertainment scarce, and educational opportunities limited, many South Dakota farm women relied on reading to fill emotional, social, and informational needs. To read to any degree, these rural women had to overcome multiple obstacles. Extensive reading (whether books, farm journals, or newspapers) was limited to those who had access to publications and could make time to read. The South Dakota Free Library Commission was valuable in circulating reading materials to the state's rural population. In the 1930s the commission collaborated with the USDA's Extension Service in a popular reading project geared toward South Dakota farm women. This "Reading in the Home" program greatly increased reading opportunities and motivations. Of particular interest to rural women were tales of pioneer life featuring strong protagonists. Through these stories, farm women found validation and encouragement to persevere. Reading also broadened horizons and challenged assumptions. For the depression-era farm woman, reading books and other materials provided recreation, instruction, and inspiration in a discouraging time.

Alwyne (Wyn) Cooper Wheeler (1929-2005) and the libraries of the Natural History Museum, London

As a senior scientist working in the Fish Section of the Department of Zoology at the Natural History Museum, Alwyne (Wyn) Wheeler was a regular library user and well-known to library staff. Always amiable and helpful, and possessing a broad general knowledge of natural history as well as expertise on fishes, Wyn interacted with library staff at all levels. A close working relationship developed where he contributed to section library management and collection building. He also published catalogues of some of the library's most important art collections. This paper celebrates the collaboration between Museum scientist Wyn Wheeler and librarians at the National History Museum.

[Systematic study of natural artifacts. On the program of the Academia Naturae Curiosorum of 1652 and its early history]

By means of indications this paper stresses the importance of the founder's father of the Academia Naturae Curiosorum, Leonhard Bausch, for the academy founded 16 years after his death. The long array of the monographs of predecessors, listed by Philipp Jacob Sachs von Lewenhaimb, whereof nearly the half of it belonged to father and son Bausch's library, allows an instructive insight into the 150-years-old tradition of the elaboration of medical-philosophical monographs. Finally the young Leopoldina raised this tradition to its program. The following bibliography contains all monographs edited in this program.

[Bibliography of previous models and precursors for the foundation program of the Academia Curiosorum Naturae 1661 monographs]

Philipp Jacob Sachs von Lewenhaimb, academical learned physician of Breslau, offered his cooperation in the Academia Naturae Curiosorum in 1658. In his letter of application he praised the programme of the academy and specified in this place and more detailed in the praeloquium of his Ampelographia (1661) many similar monographs published 150 years ago. This paper gives a complete bibliography of these predecessors of medical monographs and the verification in the library of Leonhard and Johann Laurentius Bausch (42 of 95 titles).

[The Paduan doctor Alessandro Pellati, his library and the first edition of De medicorum astrologia]

The article prints the text of a document in the Archivio di Stato, Venice, comprising a list of books intended for auction, with an estimate of their value. THey constitute the private library of Alessandro Pellati (d. 1487), a Paduan doctor about whom nothing is known, except his name appears in the colophon of the first edition of a short treatise attributed to Hippocrates, the De medicorum astrologia seu de esse aegrorum, translated into Latin and published in Padua in 1483. The considerable number of astrological works in his library show that Pellati was keenly interested in the subject which, under the title of "natural magic", had assumed a significant place in medical studies at that time, particularly in Padua.

Exposure to carcinogens and mortality in a cohort of restoration workers of water-damaged library materials following the River Arno flooding in Florence, 4 November 1966

BACKGROUND

In Florence, Italy, the Arno River overflowed on 4 November 1966 and the rare library collections of the National Central Library in Florence (FNCL) were flooded. A Restoration Centre was immediately set up. For book restoration many toxic chemicals were used, such as chlorinated solvents, ethylene oxide (EtO), formaldehyde, petroleum distillates, and pesticides. The study's aims were: (I) to document the restoration process, (II) to identify the potential chemical exposures, (III) to evaluate the mortality experience of restorers.

METHODS

A small cohort of 168 workers was identified. The restorers were employed in the FNCL's Restoration Centre during the years 1967-1976. We excluded 9 subjects from the analysis because no working period data were available. Mortality from all causes, from all cancers, and from cancers of specific sites was compared with that of the Italian general population. Standardized Mortality Rates (SMRs) and their 95% confidence intervals were estimated.

RESULTS

Restorers were exposed to relatively low levels of several carcinogens. A non-significant excess of cancer mortality was found. Significant increases in brain neoplasm among men and in uterine cancer among women were found,

CONCLUSIONS

The small cohort size hampers interpretation of the results. Larger epidemiology studies on library material restorers are needed in order to evaluate risks in this activity. Recommendations to improve future studies are given.

[Franca, New-France, transposition of pharmaceutical knowledge in 18th century]

The inventories after death have many details about houses of our ancestors and inform us about their way of life. The notary describes sometimes the library, if there is one. This one give us a good idea about the readings of our ancestors whom the apothecaries: Literature, Religion, History, Right, Medicine. These readings became some essential tools for their proprietary. The practitioners of health represent one example of this. With two representative areas of mother country and settlement, Low-Normandy (which gave many settlers in 17th century) and Canada, we are going to see the libraries of the practitioners of pharmacy in these two areas. What are the books present? Is the medical European knowledge transmitted between France and New France? Is there an influence of North-American middle?

[Initial reflections on the organization of knowledge in Kodex Ms. 8769 of the Biblioteca nacional in Madrid with an edition of the compendium about 'critical days', as well as comments on the structural organization of Melleus liquor physicae artis Magistri Alexandri Yspani]

A medical compendium of 'Melleus liquor physicae artis' has survived under the name Alexander Hispanus, possibly a medical scholar of the 13th or early 14th century, in codex Ms 8769 of the Biblioteca nacional in Madrid. But we don't know verifiable facts about Alexander Hispanus. There are more indications, that Alexander was a fictitious person and he never lived. The compendium tells about the maintaining of health as a matter of concern with strong temporal regulations. Therefore a bavarian tract about critical days was enclosed afterwards. This is very interesting, because the tract is dated to 1350 and it's written by a younger hand. Compared with that other parts of the handwriting are dated roughly to the 14th century and are written by an older hand. This tract was now edited (look to the appendix). At the same time a structural analysis of the organisation of knowledge clarified, that the Melleus liquor must be sawn as a well thought-out text altogether. The parts are connected within of three levels of structure: human, medicine, deseases and their recognition. But time is of overriding importance and it's superordinated to these factors of structure. All in all the handwriting monument is certainly written in the 14th century, but it documents medical doctrines of an older age. The late medieval writer probably used much older scripts, that don't exsist any longer. But so they were copied and came down to us fortunately.

[The Freud Museum in London as a research centre]

The paper presents a compact description of those resources of the Freud Museum most relevant for the Freud scholar: 1. the Archives with its collection of letters, documents, photos, and press cuttings from the 1920s and 1930s, as well as reproductions of paintings and photos of tourist features, compiled by Freud himself; 2. Freud's archaeological collection; 3. Freud's library.

Christopher Merrett's "Pinax rerum naturalium britannicarum" (1666): annotations to what is believed to be the author's personal copy

In 1666, Christopher Merrett published "Pinax rerum naturalium britannicarum," this essentially being a catalogue of British plant localities known at the time together with a few other items of natural history. What is thought to be the author's personal annotated copy is held in the British Library. These annotations have been examined and the hand-writing compared to surviving examples known to be either of the author or of one of his sons and are now transcribed. Brief biographical notes relating to Merrett and to the background to his production of the "Pinax" are also given.