Tag Archives: #AskAnArchivist

Exploring the Archives for 150: Attend a $3 course, circa 1879

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In preparation for UCSF’s 150th anniversary celebration exhibits, we’ve been doing a bit of exploring in the vaults. For the next several months, I’ll be posting some of the treasures we’ve discovered!

Check out the course registration process for UC Medical Department student Felix Bettelheim in 1878 and 1879. Forms included lecture admission tickets to courses in anatomy and surgery. The back of the tickets would be signed by the professor as a way to track attendance.

Lecture admission ticket, 1879, ArchClass H152

Lecture admission ticket, 1879, ArchClass H152

Lecture admission card, 1878, ArchClass H152

Lecture admission ticket, 1878, ArchClass H152

Note Hugh Toland’s name as instructor of surgery. Toland founded Toland Medical College in 1864 and later deeded the school to the UC. His gift created the UC Medical Department and paved the way for the establishment of UCSF.

Lecture admission ticket, 1878, ArchClass H152

Lecture admission ticket to Toland’s course, 1878, ArchClass H152

Bettelheim received certificates for completing dissection courses. According to a note in the collection, tickets to dissection courses were closely monitored to “prevent the morbidly curious from attending.”

Dissection certificate, 1879, ArchClass H152

Dissection certificate, 1879, ArchClass H152

Bettelheim’s tuition looked a bit different than today. As noted in the receipt, it cost $3 to attend the assigned course of study. Bettelheim graduated in 1880, we hope debt free!

Course receipt, 1879, ArchClass H152

Course receipt, 1879, ArchClass H152

2014 Winter Holiday Closure

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The Archives and Special Collections will be closed from Wednesday, December 23, 2014 through Thursday, January 1st, 2015. We will reopen on Friday, January 2nd.

Gingerbread version of The Anatomy of Human Body: Illustrated in One Hundred & Fifty Eight Plates

Gingerbread version of The Anatomy of Human Body: Illustrated in One Hundred & Fifty Eight Plates by the UCSF Library 5th floor staff.

For our entry into the UCSF Library staff gingerbread house contest we used the pieces of the house to create a rare book in a cradle, specifically, we made a tastier version of Andrew Fyfe’s The Anatomy of the Human Body: Illustrated in One Hundred and Fifty Eight Plates, 1830, that we showed you earlier this fall on the blog

Happy holidays again! See you in the new year!

The Anatomy of the Human Body: Illustrated by One Hundred & Fifty Eight Plates

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We bring you some images from the rare book collection to kick off your October:

Fyfe, Andrew, The anatomy of the human body... 1830

Fyfe, Andrew, The Anatomy of the Human Body… 1830, Tab. I.

I like to think of it as “Dancing Skeletons.” Doesn’t it look as though they’re mid-twirl?

Andrew Fyfe (1754-1824) was a Scottish anatomy professor at Edinburgh University where he lectured and performed dissections. He later went on to create anatomy textbooks and engravings. The above volume, The Anatomy of the Human Body: Illustrated in One Hundred & Fifty Eight Plates, was published after Fyfe’s death in 1830. It’s comprised solely of detailed engravings of human anatomy.

This book, along with 1,316 others, were digitized during the UCSF Google Books Project and is now available in full on HathtiTrust.

A few more– the thoracic cavity,

Fyfe, Andrew, The anatomy of the human body... 1830

Fyfe, Andrew, The Anatomy of the Human Body… 1830, Tab. XVII.

teeth and jaw,

Fyfe, Andrew, The anatomy of the human body... 1830, teeth.

Fyfe, Andrew, The Anatomy of the Human Body… 1830, Tab. LXXII.

nerves and muscles on the neck and head,

Fyfe, Andrew, The anatomy of the human body... 1830, nerves.

Fyfe, Andrew, The Anatomy of the Human Body… 1830, Tab. CV.

the brain,

IMG_0402_sm

Fyfe, Andrew, The Anatomy of the Human Body… 1830, Tab. LII.

and last but not least, a child skeleton and skulls on books. Now, who is ready for Halloween?

Fyfe, Andrew, The anatomy of the human body... 1830, child skeleton.

Fyfe, Andrew, The Anatomy of the Human Body… 1830, Tab. XXVII.

Fyfe, Andrew, The Anatomy of the Human Body... 1830, Tab. IX.

Fyfe, Andrew, The Anatomy of the Human Body… 1830, Tab. IX.