On February 16, 2017, from 4:30 to 6:30 pm, Bernard Becker Medical Library and the Center for History Of Medicine will present the 56th Historia Medica Lecture, “Books and Bodies: 500 Years of Printing Medical Texts,” followed by a grand opening reception in the newly renovated Glaser Gallery. The event is free and open to the public.
Elisabeth Brander, MA, MLS, rare book librarian at Becker Medical Library, will give the lecture. Guests may view many of the items referenced in her lecture on exhibit in the Glaser Gallery during the reception afterward.
The Drs. Helen H. and Robert J. Glaser History of Medicine Gallery is located on the 7th floor of Bernard Becker Medical Library. A generous gift from Helen and Robert Glaser, who both had strong connections to the Washington University Medical Center, has allowed the Becker Library to exhibit items from its archives and rare books collections since 1990.
In 2016, the Glaser Gallery underwent substantial renovations, including an improved, all-wood entrance with better visibility into the gallery and reading room, new lighting and interiors for the display cases, drywall covering the brick elevator wall, new flooring and new signage.
The highlight of the renovations is the beautiful custom-printed window shades that will protect exhibits from sunlight. These shades bear Renaissance-era printers’ marks found in Becker Library’s rare books collections which feature biblical and classical imagery depicted in intricate woodcuts and engravings. Images of the marks and details about their histories and imagery are available here.
The renovations were funded by Becker Library general operating funds as well as the Dr. George Seib Endowment and the Mabel L. Purkerson Archives and Rare Books Endowment, which support Becker’s archives and rare books division.