Tuesday, March 11, 2014

"Ink and Silver: Medicine, Photography, and the Printed Book, 1845-1880," Columbia University Medical Center, NYC

Stephen E. Novak--Head, Archives & Special Collections at A.C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University Medical Center--just sent word of this wonderful looking free lecture on 19th century medicine and photography taking place at Columbia University Medical Center on Thursday, April 3. Full details follow. Hope very much to see you there
History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series
Ink and Silver: Medicine, Photography, and the Printed Book, 1845-1880
Stephen J. Greenberg, MSLS, PhD, Coordinator of Public Services, History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Refreshments, 5:30, Lecture 6pm
Russ Berrie Pavilion, Room 1
1150 St. Nicholas Avenue at West 168th Street
Sponsored by the Columbia University Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library
Free and Open to the Public
The impact of the introduction of photography after 1839 on the arts and popular culture has long been extensively explored.  The use of photography in medicine has also attracted the interest of historians and archivists, resulting in many significant collections of material both in public and private hands.
However, far too often, individual images have been made to stand alone, far removed from their original context, and therefore mysterious to the viewer. Why were these pictures taken? Who saw them? Were they meant for private study or professional publication?  How did they reflect the techniques and aesthetics of the rest of contemporary photography? Most importantly, how, in a purely technical sense, did one produce and publish medical photographs in the 19th century?
Dr. Greenberg will address the use of photography in 19th-century printed medical books, both from technological and aesthetic viewpoints, using the vast photographic resources of the National Library of Medicine to highlight milestones in the history of medical photography, and to explain how they were presented to the viewer.
The lecture is on Thursday, April 3 at 6pm in Room 1 of the Russ Berrie Pavilion.  Refreshments will be served beginning at 5:30.
Image: from G.-B. Duchenne’s 1862 Mecanisme de la Physionomie Humaine.

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