Collections

The various collections of the History & Special Collections Division support the study of the history of medicine and biology. Collections consist of books, journals, manuscript, prints, portraits, and medical artifacts. For further assistance in locating manuscripts, prints, portraits, or other artifacts, please inquire in the division.

What's New

UCLA Biomedical Library Manuscript Collections
This is a partial listing of the manuscript holdings of the History & Special Collections Division.

Collection Highlights

Our goal is to have an online record for every book, journal, manuscript, manuscript collection, artifact, print, and portrait in the collection and where appropriate, to make selected content available on the web.

• The John C. Liebeskind History of Pain Collection

The Liebeskind Collection is a multi-disciplinary collection focusing on the history of pain alleviation in all of its manifestations. Oral histories with major figures in the pain field form the backbone of the collection, but we also have and collect the papers of individuals and the records of organizations. Pre-20th century historical materials also form an important part of the collection and are interpreted through exhibits and symposia.

• IASP Online Archives

  Profiles on chapters of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)

  
  
• The Donald R. Dickey Collection of Vertebrate Zoology : Photographs

The Donald Ryder Dickey Collection consists of photographs, films, books and manuscripts in the form of field notebooks. There is also a large specimen (primarily birds and mammals) collection curated by the Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, UCLA. Dickey (1897-1934) was a naturalist, photographer, and collector. The majority of his work was done between 1908 and 1925. He worked primarily in Canada, California, and Hawaii. The site also contains information about Dickey and his career. The History & Special Collections Division has mounted 350 images from the Donald Ryder Dickey Photographic Collection on the web. The early 20th century photographs focus on birds, mammals, and habitats in California.

• The Neuroscience History Archives
  An Affiliated Collection

The Neuroscience History Archives, Brain Research Institute, UCLA, and the Biomedical Library, History & Special Collections collaborate to document the history of the Brain Research Institute and the broader history of neuroscience.

Books and Journals in the History of Medicine and Biology
Search the library catalog. Almost all of the books and journals (this includes rare books, and journals, reference works, and histories and biographies) held by the History & Special Collections Division may be found in the library catalog. A few special collections of books are described below.

UCLA Library Acquires Historical Collection of Medical Texts
The UCLA Library has acquired a historical collection of books and journals from Germany, primarily medical texts in the field of otorhinolaryngology. The materials were originally in the private library of Dr. Cäsar Hirsch, a specialist in the field, who was forced to leave all his belongings behind when he and his family fled Germany in 1933.

Image Collections

20th Century

• Eugene O. Murman. Watercolor paintings of plants of the Southwest
• A. Johnson Collection of botanical drawings
• Mary Hood Collection of botanical drawings
• Alfred Hottes Collection of botanical drawings
• Flora Murray Scott Collection. Photographs of cultivated plants.
• Donald R. Dickey Photographic Collection. 1911-1931 (350 images relating to California are availab

18th and 19th Century

• Banks' Florilegium. 734 plates pulled from the original 18th century copperplates Commissioned by Sir Joseph Banks and re-pulled by Alecto Historical Editions. 1980-[1992].
• Charles Carton Collection of botanical prints (Finding Aid in Online Archive of California).
• Ferdinand Lucas Bauer, 1760-1826. Illustrationes florae novae Hollandiae sive icones generum. (A collection of botanical intaglio prints pulled from the original copperplates by Alecto Historical Editions).

Prints & Portraits & Artifacts

Currently, detailed information about these collections is available only in the History Division. Many of the images are recorded in a card catalog located in the Division.

Museum Artifacts

Although small, the Division's museum collection contains artifacts which provide insight into the practice of medicine in different eras. Surgeon's instrument cases, microscopes, scarifiers, thumb lancets, anesthesia masks, phrenological heads, cupping instruments, and glass eyes all bear witness to ideas and practices of the past.

21 April 2006
 
History & Special Collections
UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library
12-077 CHS, Box 951798
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1798
Tel: 310/825-6940
Fax: 310/825-0465
 
©2006 The Regents of the University of California