Becker Library Archives & Rare Books Division

Hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm or by appointment

Contact Archives & Rare Books at (314) 362-4236 or arb@wusm.wustl.edu

Room 702, Becker Library
MSC 8132-13-01, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110-1010

Archives & Rare Books Posts

Hey Archivist, what’s in this collection?

Have you ever stumbled upon one of our collections that just looks a little too…sparse on the details? This post aims to discuss what happens when you find a collection that hasn’t been described in detail yet, like the Albert Fuller Papers pictured to the right. If you have spent time looking through the Becker  [Read more]

Alchemical Extraction : Materia Medica in Baldur’s Gate 3 

What does multiple awards-winning video game Baldur’s Gate 3 have in common with Becker Medical Library’s rare books collections? In Baldur’s Gate, players can collect plants and monster parts, which are then refined and used in potions that give special effects in the game. This mechanic mirrors the real-life practice of gathering plants and animal  [Read more]

Dragons Beneath the Skin

If you hear the word dracunculus in a vacuum, chances are you’ll think of dragons. The frontispiece to the 1674 edition of Georg Hieronymus Welsch’s Exercitatio de Vena Medinensi certainly supports that association. Sitting next to the two Greco-Roman deities Diana and Mercury (identifiable by their shield and staff, respectively) is a dragon, which acts  [Read more]