THE 
I 
PUBLIC MEDICAL LIBRARIES 
OF 
PHILADELPHIA. 
BY 
RICHARD J. DUNGLISON, M.D. 
{REPRINTED EROM THE MEDICAL TIMES.') 
PHILADELPHIA: 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 
1871. THE LIBRARY OF THE COLLEGE OF 
PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 
'THE now venerable College of Physicians was only 
J- fifteen months old, and had held but a limited 
number of sessions for the general purposes of organi- 
zation, when at the stated meeting in April, 1788, the 
subject of a library was first introduced to the attention 
of the members. A series of by-laws was then offered, 
one section of which was at some future day to refer to 
the prospective library of the College; but the proba- 
bilities of its early establishment must have been con- 
sidered very slight, as nothing but the bare caption, 
"Section VII. Library," without one word of accom- 
panying text, is to be found at that date upon the rec- 
ords. The College, then in its infancy, numbered but 
few members, but they were the representatives of the 
earnest, active, learned men of the profession, who 
were not likely to let so important a subject slumber. 
The new medical organization had been formed at a 
time when the profession ranked very high in the scale 
of ability, skill, and social worth, and it enjoyed a large 
share of the confidence and appreciation of the public. 
The city numbered at that time only about forty-four 
thousand inhabitants, and of these probably not more 
than fifty were physicians. In the annals of those 
days* we find a full "list of all the physicians and 
* Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, vol. ii. p. 386. 4 
surgeons, as they existed in Philadelphia soon after 
the peace of 1783," forty-two, all told; and this must 
have represented very nearly the numerical strength of 
the profession at the time of the foundation of the Col- 
lege of Physicians, four years later. Twenty-two, or 
about one-half of these, were among the earliest founders 
and Fellows of the College, and but one of the whole 
number lived west of Fifth Street, most of them residing 
in Water, Front, and Second Streets. The meetings of 
the College being then held at the University, in Fourth 
Street below Arch, the College and its nucleus of a 
library were therefore convenient and accessible to the 
whole profession. We cannot dwell on this subject 
further without entering too minutely into details that 
are somewhat foreign to our more limited subject, which 
is rather a sketch of the rise and progress of the valu- 
able library of the College than of the College itself. 
The men who founded the institution were those, how- 
ever, who gave the first impetus to the growth of the 
library, and they should not, therefore, be passed over 
without mention. They included Dr. John Redman,- 
the first President of the College,-an eminent retired 
physician; several of the professors in the University 
of Pennsylvania and the College of Philadelphia,-such 
as Drs. William Shippen, John Morgan, Benjamin 
Rush, Adam Kuhn, James Hutchinson, Samuel Powel 
Griffitts, and Caspar Wistar,-Dr. Chovet, an ana- 
tomical lecturer of ability and eccentricity, and others, 
reminiscences of some of whom may be found in the 
work already referred to. 
At the June meeting of the College in 1788, Drs. 
John Jones, Samuel Powel Griffitts, and Caspar Wistar 
were appointed a committee to report a plan for the 
formation of a library for the use of the College, whose 
report was subsequently considered and reconsidered, 
and a resolution adopted that " the several members of 5 
the College be requested to send to the Secretary such 
books as they mean to present to the College." This 
request or recommendation has lost none of its force 
by the lapse of time, and is quite as applicable to the 
Fellows of these later days as to those whose contribu- 
tions were, during the expiring years of the eighteenth 
century, solicited in behalf of the young and struggling 
library. The new College must have had this subject 
very much at heart, for scarcely a meeting was held 
during the year 1789 at which the matter was not agi- 
tated. The first donation of books had already been 
received, and there was hope that the good example 
might speedily be followed. Dr. John Morgan had in 
January of that year requested the acceptance by the 
College of several medical works, and to him, there- 
fore, belongs the creditable pre-eminence of being the 
initiator of what is now the largest-and best medical 
library in the United States. The College, as we shall 
presently learn, could scarcely at that time have been 
the fortunate possessor of a bookcase, and the antici- 
pation of prospective donations and purchases must 
have been a source of no little embarrassment. The 
Censors and Secretary seem to have had assigned to 
them the duty of collecting donations of books, and of 
procuring a suitable place for keeping them and a person 
to attend at stated times; but the office of Librarian 
must have been comparatively a sinecure,-the library 
being probably too small to require his services,-for 
we find no one mentioned in connection with it for the 
next three years, when in March, 1792, Dr. Nicholas 
H. Waters volunteered to assume its duties for one year, 
and he was probably the first Librarian the College 
ever had. 
Even at this early day (1789) the College took steps 
to enrich the literature of the profession by the con- 
tributions of its own Fellows, and to publish a volume 6 
of its transactions as often as materials were afforded. 
A letter was also addressed " to the most respectable 
medical characters in the United States," requesting 
such communication and information from them as 
might tend to promote the interests of the College and 
of medicine, and stating also that it was their desire 
to get up a Pharmacopoeia. A hundred copies of 
this letter were distributed throughout the country, and 
Thomas Dobson, of this city, offered to print a volume 
of the transactions "at his own risque." This early 
publication of the College, which occurred in the fall 
of 1793, was important not only because it aroused a 
general interest in its proceedings, but also because it 
laid the foundation of a system of exchanges which 
soon became a valuable means of supply of journals 
and transactions to the library. 
In July, 1789, in conformity with a by-law respecting 
the formation of a library, Drs. Jones, Parke, and 
Wistar were appointed a committee to prepare a list of 
books to be purchased at a cost of not more than fifty 
pounds, Pennsylvania currency ; and at the meeting in 
October they were directed to send to Amsterdam for 
as many of the European continental publications as 
was possible under this appropriation. A fair illustra- 
tion of the tardiness of communication at that time 
between the Old World and the New - or perhaps 
of even more tedious custom-house circumlocution 
than now prevails-may be found in the fact that 
thirteen months elapsed before the committee were en- 
abled to report that the books " had arrived in sheets 
and were deposited at the Secretary's house," from 
which, after being bound in plain calf, they were trans- 
ferred to the hall of the College. But the miniature 
library had in the mean while (March, 1790) received 
accessions of valuable books, by the death of one of 
its most worthy members, Dr. John Morgan, who 7 
bequeathed to the College the works of Hippocrates, 
Galen, Morgagni, and Harvey, the whole making twelve 
volumes in folio and one in quarto. As, in the words 
of Dr. Rush, "the historian who shall hereafter relate 
the progress of medical science in America will be 
deficient in candor and justice if he does not connect 
the name of Dr. Morgan with that auspicious era in 
which medicine was first taught and studied as a science 
in this country," so also may it be justly said that no 
sketch of the early history of the College of Physicians 
or its library is complete without a tribute of acknowl- 
edgment of his profound interest in its welfare.* 
In December, 1791, the Secretary cheered the Col- 
lege with the information that the books were now 
placed in a case in the hall of meeting; but the case 
could not have been a very large one, as upon the 
arrival of a fresh package from Europe the following 
year, only the bound ones could be accommodated, 
and the Secretary was obliged to keep the unbound 
ones at his own house. The College left the University 
room about this time, and held their first meeting at the 
hall of the American Philosophical Society, January 3, 
* Dr. Rush, his biographer, states that during a visit to the celebrated 
Morgagni at Padua, the latter was so pleased with the doctor that he 
claimed kindred with him from the resemblance of their names, and on 
the blank leaf of a copy of his works, which he presented to him, he in- 
scribed with his own hand the following words: " Affini suo, medico 
prceclarissimo Johanni Morgan, donat auctor." This inscription has 
been extensively quoted on the authority of Dr. Rush, but must have 
been given by him merely from recollection, as on the title-page of vol. i. 
of the works of Morgagni referred to-now in the library-we find the 
following words plainly discernible : " Viro experientissimo et humanis- 
simo D. Di. Joanni Morgan auctor and on the title-page of vol. ii. the 
following : " Viro de re anatomica bono medico Do. Dri. Joanni Morgan 
auctor." Dr. Morgan was evidently a man who aimed to be a step in 
advance of his contemporaries, for we learn also that he was "the first 
man who ventured to carry a silk umbrella, and also an innovator in first 
introducing the practice of sending to the apothecary for all the medicines 
wanted for the sick." 8 
I792- At this time books were taken out only at the 
close of each monthly meeting, and a fine of two shil- 
lings and sixpence was imposed on every careless or 
delinquent Fellow who kept a book out beyond that 
time, with an additional fine of a dollar for every addi- 
tional month ; and the Censors reported the condition 
of the library every July. 
Dr. Michael Leib succeeded Dr. Waters as Librarian 
during 1792-3, but for many years afterwards we find 
no mention of the appointment of any other Fellow to 
that position, and presume that no one thought it worth 
his while to spend his time in vain efforts to arouse 
the enthusiasm of the College in behalf of a small and 
unpretending library, such as it then was. The Col- 
lege was, indeed, too poor to import any more books 
from abroad. The number of medical societies was very 
limited, the facilities for publishing were restricted, and 
the means of intercommunication were so deficient that 
there was probably but little prospect of any great 
increase in domestic books and journals. We find 
nothing on record, in any annals of those days, to show 
that the medical men of the closing years of that cen- 
tury had accumulated large libraries, from which the 
College could, either then or prospectively, hope to add 
to the value or the richness of their own collection. Of 
the early founders, Drs. John Morgan, Griffitts, Rush, 
Benjamin Smith Barton, Shippen, and Jones seem to 
have been the only ones who, during a long series of 
years, gave to the young library a few contributions 
occasionally from their own shelves; and yet there was 
hardly a meeting at which the subject of a library was 
not brought up for consideration, as a sufficient re- 
minder to the Fellows of its great and pressing needs. 
The yellow fever of 1793 interfered with the prospects 
of the library by diverting the energies of all the best 
physicians from the lighter paths of literature to the 9 
more practical fields of professional duty, and the 
public health became a consideration paramount to 
every other. The College in this epidemic, as in that 
of a few years later, met very frequently to give the 
Governor such solicited advice as might aid in the miti- 
gation of the disease, for in those old-fashioned days it 
was not an uncommon event for the State Executive to 
lean for professional assistance on those whose sagacity 
and skill commanded universal respect. Between the 
periods of the two epidemics of 1793 and 1797, how- 
ever, the library made some little progress. A fresh 
supply of books was sent for to Amsterdam by the ship 
William Penn ; the Medical Society of London had 
transmitted a few parts of its Transactions; and the 
Censors had, in January, 1797, prepared a new list of 
books for importation, which included but few solid 
works, and mainly embraced " the different periodical 
publications on medicine-viz., reviews, journals, etc. 
-which are published on the continent of Europe in the 
Latin or French languages." The yellow fever of 1797 
and of 1799 again occupied the attention of the College 
and diverted their interest from the claims of the library; 
and the same disturbing influences were at work during 
the subsequent year (1800). These months of earnest 
and serious labor were not, however, lost to literature, for 
the results were embodied in a volume of " Facts and 
Observations relative to the Nature and Origin of the 
Pestilential Fever which prevailed in this City in 1793, 
1797, and 1798," which was printed and distributed 
under the auspices of the College. 
We have no record of the numerical condition of the 
library at the commencement of the present century. 
Donations were very infrequent; the College had not 
the full and untrammelled use of its own room, as a 
stipulation made with the Philosophical Society allowed 
the latter also to place its library and apparatus in the 10 
same apartment; and the College seemed to be slug- 
gishly content with the tardy increase of its books, as if 
it feared that additions to their number might crowd the 
scanty book-shelves, or as if it never dreamed of the 
brilliant future that was in store for the library. The 
annual appropriations for the library from 1787 to July, 
1794, amounted altogether to sixty pounds, but they were 
for many years entirely omitted; and, feebly depending 
for a more vigorous vitality on the occasional attentions 
of donors of a volume or two at a time, the library grew 
but little in dimensions or importance for at least ten 
years. Dr. William Currie, in June, 1800, presented 
about twenty volumes to the College, including ten of 
Adrianus Spigelius de Humano Corpore; but the good 
example was not followed very speedily. The book- 
case must also have been a place of deposit for patho- 
logical specimens, as in July of that year we find a little 
stir made at the stated meeting in consequence of the 
abduction from it of a preparation of a heart of an extra- 
uterine foetus. In 1803, Dr. John Coakley Lettsom, the 
eminent physician and author, who had been elected 
an Associate of the College the year previous, sent out 
from England as a present to the College library a 
number of valuable works, such as Haygarth's Medical 
Transactions, 4 vols., Lettsom's Hints, 3 vols., Exam- 
ination of Jenner's Petition, etc. Dr. Lettsom was the 
first person who, after Jenner's discovery of vaccination, 
transmitted vaccine lymph to this country. He was the 
founder of the London Medical Society, was one of the 
foremost in the establishment of the Royal Jennerian 
Society, etc., and an associate of whom our own Col- 
lege of Physicians might well feel proud. 
In 1805, a committee to whom the duty had been 
assigned reported the selection they had made of papers 
for publication in a volume of the Transactions; but the 
suggestion was left unheeded for several years. The 11 
library was reported by the Censors as being in good 
order, and the admission-fee for new Fellows, which 
seems to have been fixed long before at a large amount 
($26.67), partly with a view of aiding the library at the 
inception, was now reduced to fifteen dollars. These 
are the only items of interest connected with the library 
up to the year 1815. It could not be expected that the 
little interest taken in the College by its members during 
the decade from 1805 to 1815 would redound in any 
way to the growth of the library. It was quite an un- 
common occurrence for a quorum to be present at the 
meetings, and trifling subjects of discussion on non- 
professional topics of rent, etc., for a long series of 
monthly meetings constituted the whole programme 
for the entertainment of the College. An epidemic of 
yellow fever might have stirred up their tired energies 
and given life and animation to the proceedings, and 
perhaps have called a sufficient number of members to- 
gether to induce them to make a united effort in behalf 
of the library; but, fortunately for the public, the general 
health of the community remained unaffected,-and 
the library languished. For some of this neglect, the 
war of 1812 is perhaps partly responsible. 
From 1815 to 1820 the College grew more active, but 
its library is credited with but one donation, that of a 
Spanish work on Tifus Icterodes, by Don Francisco 
Flores Moreno, from the author. The Pennsylvania 
Hospital sold to the College ten volumes of the Edin- 
burgh Journal for ^6 5s., equivalent in those days to 
$27.77. In 1818, the first constitution and by-laws was 
published, and also Dr. Wistar's eulogium on Dr. Ship- 
pen, which had been delivered a long while before. 
The catalogue of books was so imperfect that Drs. 
Parke and J. W. Moore were appointed to prepare 
a new one, which was completed in January, 1819, and 
even at this time the College could not boast of the 12 
existence of a Librarian. In those days it was the 
custom of societies to meet " at early candlelight," and 
we presume the College kept the same unobjectionable 
hours. Drs. Thomas C. James and J. W. Moore, who 
had been selected to make out a list of foreign and 
domestic periodical publications to be purchased for 
the library, reported the following, which may probably 
be accepted as the type of the most reliable medical 
issues of that day: The Edinburgh Medical and Sur- 
gical Journal, London Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, 
London Medical Transactions, Medical and Physical 
Journal, New England Medical and Surgical Journal, 
Philadelphia Eclectic Repertory, and London Medico- 
Chirurgical Journal and Review. 
With the exception of an item of two dollars for 
"cleaning the bookcase and books, and a piece of 
stained paper for covering the same," in 1825, and an- 
other of six dollars for painting the bookcase, in 1829, 
nothing of interest is to be found on the records in rela- 
tion to the library until 1834, when the first regularly- 
constituted Committee on the Library was appointed, 
consisting of Drs. J. W. Moore, William S. Coxe, and 
Simon A. Wickes, who in January, 1835, made a verbal 
report upon the state of the library, " showing that it is 
in a bad condition and going to decay;" doubtless the 
result of a third of a century of flickering energy and 
inactivity. Dr. Henry Bond succeeded Dr. Wickes in 
1836, after the death of the latter. To both of these 
committees is due the credit of adopting earnest mea- 
sures for the preservation and safety of the library. In 
June of that year they presented an excellent annual 
report, the first which is to be found in extenso upon 
the minutes. " The collection of books," it says, " be- 
longing to the College includes 31 folio volumes, 67 
quartos, and 193 octavos, making a total of 291, besides 
a number of unbound pamphlets. . . . Most of these 13 
books appear to have been presented by the members 
of the College, or by the authors or translators of the 
works, many years since. Being principally the pro- 
ductions of ancient authors, this circumstance, together 
with the inconvenient situation they occupy, causes 
them to be very little read, and more than a year has 
elapsed without a single volume having been called for. 
They are in fact to be regarded as a mere foundation, 
although a valuable one, for a medical library." The 
committee also indulge a hope that when a safe and 
easily accessible place of deposit shall be obtained for 
the books, funds ''will be appropriated more frequently 
and more abundantly, so that the collection may become 
an object of greater interest, and may better correspond 
with the dignity of so ancient and so honorable a lite- 
rary body as the College of Physicians of Philadel- 
phia." 
About this time the " Kappa Lambda Association of 
the United States," under whose auspices twelve volumes 
of the North American Medical and Surgical Journal 
had been published, with Drs. Hodge, Bache, Meigs, 
B. H. Coates, and La Roche as its editors, dissolved, 
and transferred to the library of the College for safe 
keeping its journal of proceedings and other manu- 
script documents, which, though of no special value to 
the latter, were sufficiently gratifying indications of the 
feeling of confidence entertained by the profession in 
the permanency of the College. The members of the 
Kappa Lambda Society or Association, by the encour- 
agement of social meetings at the houses of members, 
where tea or coffee and cake constituted the frugal fare, 
laid the foundation for the Monday evening and other 
similar medical clubs. 
Dr. Coxe died in 1837, and Dr. Squire Littell was 
appointed in his stead. The College now again began 
to agitate the question of new accommodations, though 14 
the size of the library was hardly formidable enough to 
excite much anxiety. The Library Committee re- 
mained without change for five years, when, in 1842, 
Dr. Francis West succeeded Dr. Bond, and in 1843, 
Dr. B. H. Coates, Dr. Moore ; and during this period the 
unvarying annual report was that one volume and a few 
pamphlets had been added during the year, and that 
little or no use of the library had been made by the 
Fellows. An effort was made in the fall of 1840 to 
secure, either by purchase or in trust, "the large and 
valuable collection of medical books accumulated at 
great expense for a long course of years by Dr. John 
Redman Coxe;'.' but the matter seems to have been 
dropped, as no subsequent action on the part of the 
committee is reported. 
The same fate seems to have attended a grand com- 
bination movement, instituted in October of the same 
year by a joint committee in behalf of the College of 
Physicians, the Philadelphia Medical Society, and the 
Philadelphia Medical College, to form a company to 
be entitled the " Medical Hall Association of Philadel- 
phia." One of the main motives for its establishment 
was that " a commodious, safe, and permanent depos- 
itory for a library" might thus be created; and it was 
to be the duty of the committee " to apply to each phy- 
sician, requesting him to inform the committee in 
writing what books he will contribute, either as dona- 
tions or deposits, towards the formation of a library." 
Whether the members of the College shrank from 
sharing a divided responsibility, or feared that the 
scheme was too grand and expensive, or wholly im- 
practicable, it is difficult now to say ; but they probably 
took the most judicious course of action when they dis- 
charged the committee from further discussion of the 
subject, and refrained from its renewed agitation. At 
the same meeting, however, another committee was 15 
appointed, to ascertain what amount would be sufficient 
to authorize the erection by the College of a building 
for its own accommodation; but they soon afterwards 
reported that the cost would probably exceed fifteen 
thousand dollars,-so large a sum in those days that 
" altho' the proposed plan met general approbation 
and many liberal subscriptions were promised, they 
regret to say a sufficient amount cannot be immediately 
raised to authorize its erection." The project of a new 
building was therefore temporarily abandoned. 
The library received a fresh impulse in 1844, in con- 
sequence of a communication from Dr. John C. Otto, 
stating that he was about to leave the city, and would 
be willing to dispose of his library,-" a valuable 
collection of works on medicine and the collateral 
sciences, all in a good state of preservation." The 
College purchased the books and bookcases for two 
hundred dollars, and they were to be deposited, under 
the control and custody of the Library Committee, in 
a room over Dr. Hodge's office at Ninth and Walnut 
Streets; and yet, several months later, the committee 
reported that they had heard of the purchase of Dr. 
Otto's books, but had not yet obtained control of them. 
The committee were instructed to report a plan " for 
rendering the library more useful and accessible to the 
Fellows, and to insure its permanent increase in size and 
value;" and in June they made several valuable sug- 
gestions, including one in regard to the appointment of 
a librarian and of a proper hour for his attendance,- 
" one hour, twice a month, would be as much as is ex- 
pedient to devote to that purpose"-one of these hours 
being at the session of the College; the preparation of 
an index-catalogue ; the obtaining of "a better colloca- 
tion for the bookcases," etc. The Library Committee 
appointed in August, 1844, consisted of Drs. Moore, 
Coates, and West, and they were associated together for 16 
several years. In December, the question of removal to 
the new Mercantile Library building, corner of Fifth and 
Library Streets, was agitated, and arrangements were 
subsequently made for that purpose. The library was 
reported as useless for want of care and arrangement, 
and its benefits entirely lost to its members. The books, 
except Dr. Otto's, were kept in a case on the first landing 
of the staircase, and altogether the College became so 
dispirited in regard to the progress of the library, that 
it was proposed to establish a medical athenaeum, to be 
open daily under the care of the Superintendent of the 
building, with all the foreign and domestic journals 
and current medical literature. 
When the College moved, in 1845, into 'ts new 
hall at the Mercantile Library building, which was 
furnished almost exclusively by private subscription, 
the first step taken in regard to the library was the 
preparation of a complete catalogue by the Library 
Committee, assisted by Drs. Griscom, Jackson, Patter- 
son, and Parrish. This was accomplished in January, 
1846, and showed that the library contained about 
six hundred volumes. Quite a number of contribu- 
tions of books were received from various Fellows, 
and Dr. Henry Bond, a valuable officer of the College, 
gave the first large donation of books the library had 
ever received, consisting of sixty-six volumes in differ- 
ent languages and on a variety of medical subjects. 
The gift of seventeen volumes by Dr. George B. Wood 
is memorable as the first of a series of munificent dona- 
tions, mainly of a pecuniary nature, lavishly bestowed 
•during a quarter of a century, for which the College of 
Physicians must ever entertain a grateful and affection- 
ate remembrance of their honored President. The 
library also during this year became indebted to Dr. 
Isaac Hays for a gift of thirty or forty French and Ger- 
man works, and has since received frequent contribu- 17 
tions of books, and especially of periodicals, from the 
same source. 
Permission was now granted the Philadelphia Medi- 
cal Society-at this time on the eve of suspension-to 
deposit its library in the hall of the College, and a case 
was procured for the reception of the books. This So- 
ciety was but two years younger than the College, having 
been instituted in 1789, but it was not destined to have 
so extended an existence. In 1846, after nearly sixty 
years of varying activity, it went into a condition of 
hibernation, from which it was only temporarily aroused 
by the stimulation of outside causes in the year 1859, 
when, after a very brief resuscitation, it finally ceased to 
exist. The books thus deposited in 1846-a few hundred 
in number-remained upon the shelves for thirteen 
years without any further action, when, in June, 1859, 
the Society determined to convey them into the actual 
possession of the College, under certain conditions as to 
their use by such of its own members as were not Fel- 
lows of the College. These terms were not, however, 
acceptable to the proposed recipients of the donation, 
and the books were therefore delivered to the President 
of the Society, about the end of this year. As part of 
the further history of this transaction, it may be stated 
that in February, 1868, a communication was received 
from the same society, offering a donation of nearly 
four hundred and fifty dollars to the College library, 
the interest of which was to be applied to its increase, 
and the Society to be credited with the donation on the 
book-plate. This was the sum which had been realized 
by the Society by the sale of the books already referred 
to, and the College added to it a sufficient amount to 
make five hundred dollars for investment, so that the 
latter eventually obtained a small permanent fund for 
the purchase of a few books annually, after the lapse 
2 18 
of nearly a quarter of a century from the time the offer 
of the books was first made. 
During 1847 and 1848 the tables were filled with 
journals, the library was open for their perusal from 11 
to 2 o'clock, and the Fellows were allowed dead- 
latch keys to the room; but the books could be seen 
or obtained only at the stated meetings. To remedy 
this inconvenience, the keys of the cases were left in 
the table-drawer, with the explicit understanding that 
no book was to be taken from the room, a printed 
placard to this effect being displayed on the bookcases. 
The exchanges at this time embraced all the medical 
journals of the country,-eighteen or twenty in number; 
but so many of the copies either failed to be received, 
or were taken home by the Fellows to be read at 
leisure and then laid aside and forgotten, that this plan 
of free access without, as at the present day, a respon- 
sible superintending officer, failed to work satisfacto- 
rily. In June, 1849, the College, on the motion of Dr. Par- 
rish, took the first action looking to the establishment 
of a museum or cabinet of pathological specimens ; but 
we need not here dwell upon the subsequent proceed- 
ings in regard to this important point, as the establish- 
ment of the museum, the gift of pathological specimens 
and money from Dr. Thomas D. Mutter, the creation of 
a building fund, and the erection of the present edifice, 
-all of which subjects became afterwards intimately 
blended,-are only incidentally connected with our 
history of the library. 
Nothing of interest now occurred until 1852, when, 
by direct appeals to the members, a sufficient number 
of journals and pamphlets had been obtained, mainly 
contributed to the library from individual searches 
among private collections,-odd numbers, perhaps, 
stored away in garrets and obscure closets,-to lead to 
the binding of nearly a hundred volumes, hitherto 19 
incomplete; and additional bookcases now became as 
much of a necessity as was a new hall for the general 
meetings of the College. As the accommodations were 
so limited that it was apparent there would be no room 
for the cases when they were constructed, the ques- 
tion of a change of location again promised to be the 
topic of the hour. The expansion of the library may 
therefore be said to have been the principal cause of 
the new arrangements which were soon afterwards 
made for the increased comfort and convenience of the 
College. The Secretary probably acted for many years 
in lieu of a librarian, for we find him, by an alteration 
of the by-laws in 1854, relieved from this duty by the 
appointment of a librarian as a regular officer of the 
College, annually elected. The committee had ceased 
to take charge of the giving out of books in 1852,-as 
they say, "since the appointment of a librarian;'' but 
no one is mentioned on the minutes in connection with 
this position until 1855, so that it is presumable that, for 
two or three years, but slight facilities were afforded the 
Fellows in the use of the books. 
The library, which was now getting rapidly larger 
by donations prompted by the increased interest felt in 
it by the Fellows, was removed in the summer of 1854 
to the " Picture-House'' of the Pennsylvania Hospital, 
in Spruce Street,-so called on account of West's cele- 
brated painting, " Christ Healing the Sick," being placed 
there,-the College having adopted that as its place of 
future meeting. A revised catalogue was at once pro- 
posed, but not at once prepared. A lively interest in 
the College seems to have been reawakened at this time, 
for the meeting of October of this year was, almost with- 
out exception, larger than any ever held previously or 
even up to the present time, fifty-two of the Fellows 
being present, although there was nothing unusual to 
attract them. The first librarian, under the modified 20 
by-laws, which provided not only for the election of 
that officer but also of the Library Committee in January, 
was Dr. T. Hewson Bache, who for eight years con- 
tinued to exercise the duties of the position with a zeal 
and fidelity creditable to himself and beneficial to the 
interests of the College. Hardly a full set of any med- 
ical journal-not even of its own Transactions-was 
at this time in the possession of the College. Every 
practicable effort was at once made to remedy such 
deficiency. So incomplete were some of the sets, how- 
ever, that it was not deemed worth while to attempt to 
make them more perfect. At the February and April 
meetings of 1855, Dr. Alfred Stille presented seventy- 
three volumes and forty-three numbers of valuable med- 
ical works, and Dr. Samuel Lewis, whose name a few 
years afterwards became permanently identified with 
the history of the library, gave fifty volumes, Dr. More- 
ton Stille fifty-one, and others a large aggregate of 
equally useful works. So many numbers of medical 
journals were presented that a hundred additional vol- 
umes of periodicals were placed on the shelves, which 
otherwise would have been comparatively valueless. 
During a period of six months, two hundred and 
fifty-two book's were also contributed by the Fellows,, 
and one hundred and sixty-five other works were 
bound ; and the library now amounted, after nearly 
seventy years of varying effort, to what, doubtless,, 
seemed a magnificent total of seventeen hundred vol- 
umes,-only one-ninth of the number which at present 
constitute it, although but sixteen years have since 
elapsed. During this last period, the library has doubled 
itself more than three times. The library and new 
manuscript catalogue were ready for use in July. Upon 
the death of Dr. Moreton Stille, in the fall of 1855, 
his widow presented to the College, through her brother- 
in-law, Dr. Alfred Stille, a portion of his medical 21 
library, which had been collected by him "to foster his 
taste for literary and scientific culture," and was now 
given to those who were devoted to the same studies 
and pursuits. This donation comprised one hundred 
and nineteen separate works, in one hundred and thirty- 
seven volumes. 
The total number of volumes in the College library 
reported January, 1857, was 2155,-" a very large num- 
ber," says the annual report, "in comparison withits 
meagre contents, as some of the Fellows present will 
recollect them, when the library occupied a small and 
obscure corner of the stair-landing at the old Philoso- 
phical Hall on Fifth Street." 
In October, 1857, Dr. Thomas F. Betton, who had 
during the previous year expressed a desire to give a 
large and valuable donation of books from his private 
library, communicated to the College his intention to 
convey into its possession his own medical library, and 
that of his father (Dr. Samuel B. Betton), amounting 
altogether to twenty-five hundred volumes, giving at 
once the periodicals and many curious old books, in 
order, as was very sensibly expressed in his note, " that 
they may be made of use, and not be kept slumbering on 
my shelves, to the advantage of no one." During the 
next six months, many hundred volumes were added 
from this source alone, and in 1864 a very large ad- 
ditional number. Dr. Betton's gift included some very 
rare and important works, and is worthy of record as 
the first massive contribution the College had received. 
It proved to be the library of a connoisseur, whose good 
taste in selecting the valuable materials which com- 
posed it was equalled only by his liberality in bestowing 
it where it would always be appreciated. The general 
library of the College thus received a stimulus the 
influence of which is felt even at the present time. 
During 1858, Dr. Robert M. Huston contributed 22 
several hundred foreign and domestic journals. The 
library was reported on the ist of January, 1859, as 
containing three thousand five hundred and sixty vol- 
umes, divided, in the catalogue, into folios, quartos, 
etc.,-an arrangement which has since been abandoned 
as useless and inconvenient. The Betton collection 
at this time included five hundred and seventy-two 
works, or about twelve hundred and sixty-five volumes. 
In May, 1859, it was determined to purchase the 
property at the northeast corner of Thirteenth and 
Locust Streets for the future permanent location of the 
College. A letter was received at this meeting from 
Mrs. M. A. Mutter, the widow of Dr. Thomas D. Mutter, 
who died during the preceding April, stating that it had 
been her husband's intention to give his medical library 
to the College, and expressing a desire to deposit it, 
to become a gift when the terms of agreement as to a 
new building for the museum should be fulfilled. The 
library was now kept open every Friday evening, from 
7 to 10 o'clock, for a period of six months, under the 
charge of Dr. David Lewis, Librarian of the Pennsyl- 
vania Hospital. In June it received a valuable acces- 
sion of select works,-a legacy from the former Secre- 
tary of the College, Dr. Henry Bond. At the expiration 
of the year, it was found that three hundred and ninety- 
seven volumes had been added to the College library, 
besides medical journals and pamphlets, and that the 
total number of books reached very nearly four thousand 
volumes, exclusive of four hundred and one works 
deposited by Mrs. Mutter. 
Very little increase was visible in the library during 
the years i860 and 1861. A committee of five-Drs. 
T. H. Bache, Ruschenberger, West, Lewis, and R. P. 
Thomas, to which Dr. Betton (who afterwards declined) 
and Dr. W. F. Atlee were added-was appointed in 
April, i860, to prepare a catalogue of the books. This. 23 
must have been a task of great magnitude, for it was not 
reported as complete until December of the following 
year. The committee was aided also by Dr. Stille ; but 
it is due to the then librarian (Dr. Bache) to state that 
" a large share of the labor of preparing the catalogue 
devolved upon him." Strange to say, this valuable 
compilation, the great desideratum of the time in which 
it was prepared, not long afterwards was mislaid or 
destroyed in some inexplicable way, greatly to the 
chagrin and disappointment of those especially who 
had zealously labored in its preparation. A very valu- 
able gift to the library during 1862 was effected by 
private subscription of twenty-three Fellows of the Col- 
lege, being no less a present than one hundred and 
ninety-two volumes of the ''Collection des Theses sou- 
tenues a la Faculte de Medecine de Paris," from 1822 to 
1846 inclusive. This is, without exception, the finest 
set-probably the only one-of these inaugural dis- 
sertations to be found in this country. In July, 1863, 
the College was informed that Dr. Isaac Reming- 
ton had, during his last sickness, expressed a desire 
to leave it his medical library, consisting of ninety 
works, including one hundred and ninety-five vol- 
umes, and ten periodicals in one hundred and eighty- 
eight numbers, besides pamphlets; and the Library 
Committee was authorized to take action in regard to 
their reception. 
In consequence of the absence of Dr. Bache on 
patriotic medico-military duties during the war of the 
rebellion, Dr. Walter F. Atlee was, in January, 1863, 
elected Librarian. The new building at Thirteenth and 
Locust Streets was in March declared ready for occu- 
pancy; the Building Committee soon after reported 
plans for cases, and ere long the library of the College, 
which having safely undergone the traditional three 
times of removal might now be considered fire-proof, 24 
was securely ensconced in its new and commodious 
quarters. It probably at this time numbered scarcely 
more than four thousand five hundred volumes. Dr. 
Charles S. Boker was, in January, 1864, elected Libra- 
rian, to be succeeded in 1865 by Dr. John H. Slack, 
who retained that position until the appointment of the 
present worthy and excellent incumbent, Dr. Robert 
Bridges, in 1868. 
The recent civil war, during its earlier years, was evi- 
dently a disturbing element, even in the quiet operations 
of the library, for there seems to have been at this time 
a lull in the activity of the committee, probably because 
the attention of the Fellows was so seriously diverted 
by more stirring causes as to prevent them from con- 
tributing to any extent to swell the contents of the 
book-shelves. 
The years 1864 and 1865 are memorable in the history 
of the College library for the remarkable addition to it 
of about forty-five hundred volumes, twenty-five hundred 
of which were given cn masse by Dr. Samuel Lewis, of 
this city, whose interest in the library must have ripened 
into the warmth of affection to prompt the unselfish be- 
stowal of such invaluable medical literary treasures. 
They were presented unconditionally to the College in 
a modest note of but three or four lines, with the earnest 
wish that they might tend in some degree to advance 
its interests and usefulness. The College officially re- 
turned him a vote of thanks for his munificent gift, and 
resolved that the books should be preserved as a sepa- 
rate collection, under the name of the " Lewis Library." 
In November, 1865, he was again thanked "for his re- 
newed manifestation of interest in the welfare of the 
College,"-a deserved tribute to his liberality and zeal, 
which might stand permanently recorded in lasting 
appreciation of his almost daily contributions, the por- 
tion of the library bearing his name having been in 25 
less than seven years augmented by his own efforts to 
a sum total of over four thousand volumes. Rich as the 
College library may hereafter become from bequests 
from any source, it is doubtful whether any other col- 
lection, unless specially selected with a view to its future 
presentation, will ever be so carefully and tenderly 
nurtured as that which now perceptibly grows in im- 
portance and usefulness under the eyes of its generous 
donor. 
During the next year (1865), Mr. George Ord, a 
gentleman of philological culture, who for many 
years had been a prominent member of the various 
scientific and literary bodies here and elsewhere, 
offered so tempting a collection of valuable scientific 
and miscellaneous works for the acceptance of the 
College, provided it was deemed advisable to go outside 
of the range of medicine, that the committee appointed 
for the purpose wisely determined not to lose this un- 
usual opportunity of enriching the resources of the 
library. The College thus became possessed, in the 
spring of 1866, of a very choice collection, "comprising 
the best editions of the most eminent classical writers 
in the English and French languages, many volumes 
of interesting voyages and travels, and the best and 
largest collection of English and French dictionaries 
perhaps in this country, being the fruits of Mr. Ord's 
industrious collecting during more than half a century." 
The acquisition of these valuable works was doubtless 
intended to be without cost to the College; but, being a 
bequest, instead of an actual gift during his life, though 
promised before his death, the latter had to pay the 
collateral inheritance and United States taxes, etc., 
amounting to $350,-an unexpected expense, but a 
trifling one, when we consider that the library was 
appraised at a valuation of four thousand dollars. The 
sprinkling of miscellaneous books thus infused into the 26 
library may serve as a gentle reminder to those of the 
Fellows who are deeply absorbed in mere professional 
practice and routine journal and text-book literature, 
that the means of increasing their store of general infor- 
mation, and of becoming cosmopolitan in learning, are 
close at hand. 
When the Library Committee made its annual report 
in January, 1866, there were said to be seventeen thou- 
sand titles of books in possession of the College, and it 
was regarded " as the best collection of medical works 
belonging to any similar institution in the United 
States." The new librarian, Dr. Slack, was credited 
with having contributed a large share of useful labor 
in connection with the care and arrangement of the 
library. The actual number of volumes had now risen 
to nine thousand five hundred and thirteen, and this 
amount was swollen by the receipt of the Ord library, in 
April, and by other donations, to a total of twelve thou- 
sand four hundred and forty-eight volumes before the 
close of the year. The library had now become so 
reliable and voluminous for reference that Dr. Wood, 
the President of the College, expressed in a communi- 
cation to that body his earnest belief that more time 
should be allotted for access to the books and journals 
to enable practitioners who might wish hastily to decide 
some subject of direct interest or concern to themselves, 
or to while away an hour or two of leisure, or to investi- 
gate difficult or obscure points requiring extended refer- 
ence to a number of authorities, to avail themselves of 
its advantages. To meet any additional expense that 
might be incidentally incurred, he generously offered 
to give the College five hundred dollars a year. This 
liberal offer was gladly accepted; the by-laws were 
altered to make the Librarian an ex-officio member of 
the Library Committee, which was increased to five; 
the Librarian was instructed to keep a record of the 27 
books, and report at each stated meeting; the library 
was to be open from 11 to 3 o'clock daily, and one 
of the committee was to attend regularly between those 
hours, for which duty he was to receive five hundred 
dollars a year. Dr. Robert Bridges was in June elected 
for this latter purpose, and by his careful attention to 
the requirements of the library from that time to the 
present, and his courteous, zealous, and efficient ser- 
vices,-which with each year's growth and use of the 
library must become more and more onerous,-has 
earned the grateful regard of all the Fellows of the Col- 
lege. In the following January he was also elected 
Librarian. Under his careful hand a voluminous al- 
phabetical catalogue of the library according to authors 
has for some time been in preparation, and is now so 
far advanced that an important portion of it is ready 
for reference. To this will be appended a list of au- 
thors according to subjects, on the plan of the Edin- 
burgh Library catalogue. 
During the next four years the library grew very 
rapidly, as may be seen from the following table, 
founded on the annual reports of the Library Committee, 
presented each January: 
1868. 
1869. 
1870. 
1871. 
Lewis Library, 
3098 
3204 
3449 
3893 
Ord 
2068 
2068 
1909* 
1909 
East and west rooms 
;, 7216 
8434 
8744 
9108 
Total, 
12,382 
13.706 
14,102 
14,910 
Besides these, there is a large number of duplicates, 
varying each year from sales or additions, amounting 
* A portion of this library, embracing kindred subjects on natural his- 
tory, etc., was incorporated with the general library, the book-plate, of 
course, crediting them to the Ord bequest. This will account for the 
apparent diminution of the number of volumes. 28 
in 1868 to five hundred and ninety-one, and in 1871 to 
eight hundred and thirty-two volumes. The actual 
number of volumes at present in the library consider- 
ably exceeds fifteen thousand. 
The use of the library by the Fellows has also steadily 
increased,-nearly six hundred volumes having been 
loaned during 1870,-although it hardly seems even yet 
that they have arrived at a full realization of the extent of 
the literary resources within their reach. As they become 
more conscious of the magnitude of its dimensions, 
of its richness for reference, and of its practical useful- 
ness as a working library, their interest in it must be 
constantly augmented, and the halls of the College will 
doubtless in time be resorted to by a largely-increased 
number of the Fellows, awakened to a knowledge of 
the real value of the periodical and general literature 
so freely offered them. In the report for 1869, the com- 
mittee, after congratulating the College on possessing, it 
is believed, the largest medical library in the United 
States,-the next in extent probably being that of the 
Pennsylvania Hospital,-remark, that "when it is re- 
membered within how short a period this collection has 
reached its present size and acquired its great value, the 
hope is not an extravagant one that in a few years all 
of the available space in the College building will be 
required to contain the gifts of its benefactors.'' In Feb- 
ruary of this year, Bujalsky, a Russian surgeon, sent to 
the College from St. Petersburg a number of valuable 
books, including an illustrated folio work on lithotomy, 
etc., in the Russian language, the plates of which are 
twenty-three inches in length by thirty in width. 
In January, 1869, the medical library of Dr. Francis 
West, who had for several years been a useful member 
of the Library Committee, was received as a bequest. 
It consisted of one hundred and twenty-four volumes 
and two hundred and twenty duplicates. In February, 
1870, ninety-nine volumes on midwifery were received 29 
from the executor of the estate of Dr. Charles D. Meigs, 
in accordance with the terms of his will. The latest 
step taken by the College to extend the usefulness of the 
library was a resolution passed in April, 1871, to keep it 
open in the evening, from October 1 to May 31, twice a 
week, from 7 to 10 p.m., to enable the Fellows to con- 
sult the books and journals, with an assistant librarian 
to be appointed to attend to this additional duty. In 
this manner a more social feeling will doubtless be dif- 
fused among the members of the College, which will 
inevitably have an important and beneficial effect in 
creating a wide-spread interest in the library and in the 
institution which is its fortunate possessor. 
A number of the Fellows have, within the past two or 
three months, organized a "Journal Association of the 
College of Physicians," for the purpose of creating, by 
private subscription alone, a fund for the purchase of 
foreign and domestic current medical literature, which, 
after being left on a special table in the room of the 
College for a sufficient length of time, is to be given, 
in complete volumes, to the library. The main object 
is to supplement in this way the list of journals already 
regularly taken by the College, by adding others which 
it is desirable it should possess. This new plan of 
increased supply is meeting with great favor and suc- 
cess, and is likely to be a permanently attractive fea- 
ture. The idea is not an entirely new one, having been 
agitated in January, 1856, but not practically carried 
out. Medical pamphlets of all kinds, as well as the 
Transactions of medical societies here and elsewhere, 
are also received, and will be welcomed as acceptable 
contributions from professional gentlemen in any portion 
of this country, either to this Association or to the Col- 
lege, which latter will transmit its own Transactions in 
exchange. 
The following gentlemen have constituted the Library 
Committee from 1845-the date of removal to the Mer- 30 
cantile Library building-to the present time. I. At 
the Mercantile Library, Drs. West, Pepper, and Reese. 
2. At the Pennsylvania Hospital building, Drs. West, 
Reese, Lewis, Lajus, Betton, W. F. Atlee, and Stille. 
3. At the College building, Thirteenth and Locust, Drs. 
Lewis, Stille, Atlee, Bridges, and J. Ashhurst, Jr. Their 
services have been attended with the best results to the 
interests of the College. They have, during some of 
these years, accomplished a good deal, with little or no 
annual appropriation of funds; and although a more 
just and generous amount is now granted them for cur- 
rent expenses, the great increase of the library has been 
effected almost entirely without expense to the College, 
so numerous have been the donations of books. It is im- 
possible, and would indeed be inexpedient, to mention 
in detail the names of all the benefactors of the library, 
some of whom have given largely from their own literary 
resources in one or two instalments, and others but a little 
at a time, and yet frequently. Without making invidi- 
ous mention, it may be truly stated that, while the Col- 
lege feels grateful to all the contributors to the library, 
it must feel especially so for numerous and valuable 
gifts of books and periodicals by Drs. Alfred Stille, John 
Bell, S. Weir Mitchell, Francis W. Lewis, Walter F. 
Atlee, Samuel D. Gross, George W. Norris, Edward 
Hartshorne, Joseph Carson, Charles D. Meigs, Charles 
W. Pennock, Robert P. Harris, and William Ashmead, 
in addition to those already mentioned. They have all 
been actuated by the same spirit, as contributors to the 
general good of the profession. As gratitude has been 
ironically defined as "thankfulness for favors to come," 
the College may truly congratulate itself on the future 
of its library, which will undoubtedly receive hereafter, 
from some of its warmest friends of to-day, large acces- 
sions of valuable, curious, and standard w'orks. Let us 
hope, however, that the day is far distant which shall 
produce the enrichment of the library as the result of 31 
the loss to the College, the profession, and the world, of 
the valuable services of any one of them I 
Of the character of the books now constituting the 
library, much might be said, had we the space to 
describe them at length. Suffice it to say that the Col- 
lege library proper is rich in the general walks of medi- 
cal literature, and especially in American, French, and 
German journals, and that it contains numerous clas- 
sical treatises and curious old works, such as would 
delight the student and the antiquary. One of these 
very rare old books is an American work, "printed and 
sold by B. Franklin, 1745," entitled " An Essay on the 
West India Dry Gripes," by Dr. Thomas Cadwalader. 
Curiously enough, it contains two prefaces, each dated 
"New Jersey, Trenton, March 25, 1745," one of them 
being pasted on a fly-leaf, from which fact it is inferred 
that it was probably the author's private copy, and 
that, being dissatisfied with one preface, he substituted 
another, and kept them both for his own reference. 
The Lewis library is very valuable for its completeness 
in old English journals, curious old books,-some of 
them dating as far back as the sixteenth century, in- 
cluding among other works a fine collection of the School 
of Salernum,-all the best medical works of the day in 
their original editions,-not a reprint being found in the 
whole library,-and seven or eight hundred articles on 
fever. The philological character of the excellent Ord 
library has already been referred to. 
The main rooms of the library are embellished, in 
some of the available spaces, by the portraits of deceased 
officers and Fellows of the College. Included among 
these are paintings of several of the former Presidents, 
-Drs. John Redman (1787-1805), William Shippen 
(1805-1809), Thomas Parke (1818-1835), and Thomas 
C. James (1835). These were all given by Dr. George 
B. Wood in 1865 and 1866, that of Dr. Redman being 
copied from a small water-color portrait presented in 32 
1865 by the heirs of Dr. John Redman Coxe, which 
also occupies a small corner in the library. Dr. John 
Neill in 1867 contributed a portrait in oil of his father, 
Dr. Henry Neill, and smaller likenesses of Drs. Benja- 
min Duffield and John Church. A portrait of Dr. 
Abraham Chovet, anecdotes of whom are connected 
with Philadelphia local history of the latter part of the 
last century, was presented the same year by Mrs. L. C. 
Hay, of Trenton, N.J. An oil-painting of Dr. John 
Foulke, one of the founders of the College, was pre- 
sented by Mrs. W. Parker Foulke; a small print of 
Dr. S. P. Griffitts, one of the early founders, by Dr. 
Carson ; one of Dr. John Syng Dorsey, by Mr. Charles 
Hart; an artistic oil-painting of Hippocrates,* exe- 
cuted by herself, by Miss Fanny Darrach ; and an excel- 
lent photograph of Dr. Robley Dunglison, by Dr. Richard 
J. Dunglison. There is also in the museum a fine por- 
trait of Dr. Thomas Dent Mutter, by Huntingdon. As 
far back as the year 1850, the Library Committee 
were requested "to have copies of such engraved like- 
nesses of deceased Fellows as have been published, 
for the purpose of having them also framed and sus- 
pended in the chamber;" but no action has ever been 
taken in regard to it. It is to be hoped that in time 
busts of the most honored Fellows of the College may 
also adorn the now empty spaces over the projecting 
bookcases. An album is kept in the library for the 
reception of the photographs of all those connected 
with the College who feel disposed to contribute to it. 
The library is usually closed in the summer for a period 
of about six weeks. Members of the profession who 
are not Fellows of the College are allowed free access 
to the library at the regular hours, on introducing them- 
selves to the Librarian. 
* This painting was based upon the bust of Hippocrates in the posses- 
sion of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,-itself copied from a 
historic medal. 33 
THE MEDICAL LIBRARY OF THE PENN- 
SYLVANIA HOSPITAL. 
* I 'WENTY years ago, the history of the Pennsylvania 
Hospital was narrated by one of the most honored 
representatives of the medical profession, at the most 
interesting period of its career, when it was just enter- 
ing upon the second century of its usefulness.* It is 
not, therefore, our purpose now to dwell upon its char- 
itable and beneficial characteristics, except in so far as 
they are connected with a sketch of the rise and pro- 
gress of the library. We should have found it a task of 
considerable magnitude to trace the growth of the latter 
during a period of one hundred and ten years (1762 to 
1871), carrying us back into the days of our colonial 
history, about fourteen years before the declaration of 
our national independence, but for the excellent state 
of preservation of the minutes of the Board of Mana- 
gers, and the valuable assistance imparted by a copious 
alphabetical index of these minutes during the first 
half-century of the existence of the Hospital. Unfortu- 
nately, this index has been discontinued for nearly 
seventy years past. The Hospital itself was instituted 
in 1751, but eleven years elapsed before the gift of a 
single volume laid the corner-stone of the future library, 
Mr. William Logan, one of the Managers, on his return 
from Europe in July, 1762, bringing with him a recently- 
issued work on Materia Medica, by William Lewis, 
F.R.S.,-" a present to this Hospital by Dr. John Foth- 
ergill, for the benefit of the young students in physic 
who may attend under the direction of the physicians." 
* An Address on the Occasion of the Centennial Celebration of the 
Founding of the Pennsylvania Hospital, delivered June xo, 1851, by Geo. 
B. Wood, M.D. Philadelphia, 1851. 34 
Dr. F. was an early and steadfast friend of the institu- 
tion, and during this same month contributed a number 
of framed anatomical views, models, etc., valued at 
^350. These were used to illustrate Dr. Shippen's 
anatomical lectures, and the name of the generous 
donor is therefore associated with the earliest study and 
teaching of anatomy in this country. This collection, 
as well as that of some curious anatomical waxwork 
purchased from the estate of Dr. Abraham Chovet in 
1793 by life-annuity to his daughter of ^30 (sterling),- 
the sum paid on this account amounting in all to 
$2658.88,-though seemingly unconnected with the 
history of the library, are incidentally mentioned here, 
more particularly "as the anatomical museum of which 
they laid the foundation was long connected with the 
library and drew its subsequent increase from the same 
fund.''* 
The subject of charging a fee for the admission of 
students to the privileges of the Hospital is interesting 
from its connection with the history of the foundation 
of the medical library. It was the custom in those 
days-up to 1821-to intrust the duties at present exer- 
cised by the Resident Physician to Apprentices,-in 
other words, medical students who resided within the 
hospital. The regulations adopted in 1763 required a 
fee from all students in attendance, except, of course, 
the apprentices; but the matter being first referred to 
the Attending Physicians, the latter, in a report signed 
by Drs. Thomas Bond, Thomas Cadwalader, Phineas 
Bond, and Cadwalader Evans, recommended that each 
student should pay six pistoles as a gratuity for that 
* Sketch of the History of the Medical Library of the Pennsylvania 
Hospital. By William G. Malin, Librarian. Philadelphia, 1829. The 
writer of this article is also indebted to this gentleman, at present the effi- 
cient Steward, as well as to Mr. Alexander D. Stockton, Librarian, for 
facilities and courtesies extended in its preparation. 35 
privilege. "And further," say these gentlemen, "as 
the custom of most of the hospitals in Great Britain 
has given such gratuities to the physicians and sur- 
geons attending them, we think it properly belongs to 
us to appropriate the money arising from thence, and 
propose to apply it to the founding a medical library 
in the said hospital,"-which proposition was acceded 
to. The expenditures from the "medical fund" thus 
created and annually increased from this source are, 
it is presumable, still devoted to the purposes of the 
library. 
In 1767, there were presented from the medical 
library of the late Dr. Lloyd Zachary forty-three vol- 
umes, and from that of the late Dr. Benjamin Morris, 
by his sister Deborah Morris, fifty-five volumes,-the 
latter the medical portion of a valuable collection of 
works procured by him while residing abroad. In Oc- 
tober, 1770, two quarto volumes on Materia Medica 
were received from England, having been "trans- 
mitted by our friend Benjamin Franklin at the request 
of our worthy benefactor, Dr. John Fothergill, as a 
present from him." The Hospital seems to have had, 
almost from the outset, valuable assistance from friends 
and contributors in Great Britain. A continuance of 
the same kind influences in behalf of our local sick 
was again invoked in July, 1774, by direct appeal of 
a committee, addressed to William Strahan, of London, 
at the time of sending for a supply of medical works, 
which they were anxious to obtain before the winter. 
" This we are very desirous of, as the young students 
who from the neighboring provinces attend the lectures 
of the several professors in our medical school may 
then have the benefit of reading them a year sooner 
than they can if they should not.arrive here before the 
next spring." The "trunk of books" was received in 
December, and the gentleman addressed evidently took 36 
as a hint the statement of the committee that the Hos- 
pital " funds fall short some hundred pounds yearly of 
discharging our common expenses," for the books, 
valued at about a hundred pounds, appear to have been 
presented by him. 
"The throes of the approaching Revolution," says 
Mr. Malin, "began now to be felt; and although, 
amidst the all-absorbing political excitement and con- 
vulsions which followed, the Managers continued an 
unremitting care to the main objects of the institution, 
it is not surprising that for some years no addition of 
importance was made to the library. At some periods, 
indeed, particularly during the years 1776-77-78, and 
during the depreciation in the value of continental 
money, it required great exertions to preserve the insti- 
tution from total ruin. In the fourteen years between 
1774 and 1787 inclusive, only ten volumes and a pam- 
phlet were added to the library. The first order for 
books transmitted to London after the close of the 
Revolutionary War was dated June 30, 1786." One 
work purchased during the war, Cullen's First Lines, 
of the Practice of Physic, cost, in 1780, the apparently 
extravagant sum of ^135 This was at a time 
when there was an enormous depreciation of the cur- 
rency, and was really equal only to the inconsiderable 
amount of £1 15s. specie. 
While the catalogue was in preparation in 1788, sev- 
eral volumes were found to be missing, and Samuel 
Coates was desired to advertise for them in Hall & 
Sellers' Gazette, and to request the persons in whose 
possession they were to return them. The Apothecary, 
who evidently acted as the Librarian in those days, was 
ordered under no pretence to loan a book without taking 
a note or sufficient deposit. The first systematic " Rules" 
for the use and preservation of the library were adopted 
in December, 1789; and it was at the same time deter- 37 
mined that a catalogue should be printed, "under the 
inspection of Joseph Paschall and Bartholomew Wistar, 
who are requested to accept of the assistance of Drs. 
Rush and Parke, who offer their services in this busi- 
ness." This, the first catalogue, was issued in the spring 
of 1790, a copy being given gratis to each officer, Dr. 
Lettsom, and Dr. Redman, President of the College of 
Physicians, the students being each charged an eighth 
of a dollar for the same. The number of volumes em- 
braced in it was 528. We learn from Mr. Malin's 
sketch, that "in the years 1787, 1788, 1789, and 1790, 
the amount paid for books was ^266 55. wd., and the 
total expenditure in their purchase from the foundation 
of the library to the close of the official year (May) 
1790 was ^332 85. J^d., or $886.48." 
During 1790, the aid of the celebrated Dr. Lettsom 
was solicited by the Managers of the Hospital in the 
selection of works for the library abroad. He subse- 
quently contributed many valuable medical books, and 
seemed anxious that " the library should contain a good 
proportion of the works of ancient as well as modern 
authors, and that they should be consulted by at least 
the writing portion of the profession." 
In October, 1791, it was determined that, in addition 
to the facilities extended to its own officers, the Presi- 
dent of the College of Physicians for the time being 
should be entitled to the use of the books. 
Drs. Parke, Shippen, and Wistar were appointed, in 
January, 1794, a committee to report a plan for the 
better regulation of the library and the preservation of 
the anatomical specimens, but their report was not 
entered upon the minutes. In February, Jos. Paschall 
and Dr. Parke were appointed to prepare a catalogue 
of the new books, which was printed in August. The 
apprentices must at this time have had charge of the 
library, for we find Dr. Thomas Horsfield, one of these 38 
resident medical officers, who was about to leave the 
institution, called upon to give a list of the books miss- 
ing from the library; and, still later, several of these 
gentlemen paid out of their own pockets for a few miss- 
ing volumes, for the care of which they were held 
responsible. 
The Managers, in March, 1800, resolved to petition 
Congress to exempt public libraries from the payment 
of import duties on books; btit the petition was not 
offered, as Congress had in the mean time decided the 
question negatively. The library was removed during 
this year into the new room, specially prepared for it, 
on the first floor of the centre building, there not being 
room for it in the four cases it already occupied, and 
Drs. Parke and Barton were appointed the Committee 
of Arrangement. The library became in time so ex- 
tensive that it not only filled the apartment designed 
for it, but also crept into the entry, and even invaded 
the domain of the Apothecary. This condition of affairs 
continued until 1847, when it was removed to its present 
commodious quarters on the second floor. 
The only important donation of books during the 
year 1800 was received from Sarah Zane, who had come 
into possession of a large miscellaneous and medical 
library, the latter of which, including many rare books, 
she gave to the Hospital. It consisted of ninety-one 
quartos, twenty-three folios, twenty-two duodecimos, 
and six octavos. "It is curious to remark,'''says Mr. 
Malin, " the relative proportion of the several sizes, 
particularly as these works were nearly all published in 
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and may per- 
haps be taken as a tolerably fair average of the form 
assumed by the medical literature of those times.'' 
On every occasion when the care of the library was 
transferred from one apprentice to another, formal 
action was taken upon it by the Board of Managers. 39 
Each new acting Librarian was required to receipt for 
all the books, etc., a list of the missing volumes was 
prepared, and two of the Managers were appointed to 
superintend the transfer. It was quite a common-in- 
deed, almost a universal-occurrence for the appren- 
tice to be charged on leaving with the value of a large 
number of missing books. The records are full of such 
entries as " List of books lost before Dr. took charge 
of the library " Books lost under the care of Dr. ," 
etc. Indeed, at one time it was ordered that the medi- 
cal library be closed, to give the apprentice the oppor- 
tunity ' ' to stay a few days in the city, and devote time to 
collect all that are out," and to make a list of the books 
still missing, fifty copies of which list were to be dis- 
tributed among the physicians and pupils, and one copy 
inserted in the public newspapers. In another place 
we read that the library is not to be opened until further 
orders, ''as John Moore, who is appointed Librarian, 
must examine the books before he gives a receipt for 
them," fifty volumes being then missing, though many 
of these were afterwards recovered. In addition to such 
duty, the rules stipulated that " the apprentice acting 
for the time being as Librarian shall bleed, cup, and 
leech; he shall also dress wounds, and assist the senior 
apprentice in dressing fractures." 
It may be interesting, now that the system of medical 
apprenticeship has been abolished for so many years, 
to refer briefly to the terms under which such an officer 
was received. He was to bring with him a single 
feather-bed, which he was to leave in the house, to serve 
five years, and give two sufficient securities to pay at 
the rate of a hundred pounds per annum for every day 
that he absented himself without leave from the Man- 
agers, to fill up his time in study, ''to look for no indul- 
gence by leave to attend parties of pleasure or places 
of amusement, nor to be abroad in the evening ; nor will 40 
it be considered for his benefit to receive visits at home, 
none of these things making any part of the views of 
careful parents or friends in placing him, nor the Man- 
agers in receiving him, as apprentice." He was al- 
lowed two seasons-selected by the Managers-out 
of the five, to attend medical lectures, " always ob- 
serving to return home as soon as each lecture shall 
be over." These reminiscences of those who for so 
many years had the responsible care of the library seem 
appropriate in a sketchy of its history. 
In 1806, a new catalogue-the first according to 
authors-was printed, under the superintendence of 
Zaccheus Collins and Richard Wistar,.a committee of 
the Board of Managers, who were empowered to call to 
their assistance one or more of the physicians. Dr. 
Thomas Parke was selected, but Dr. Joseph Harts- 
horne, at that time an apprentice, is known to have had 
the chief labor of its compilation intrusted to him. 
Nothing of interest occurred in connection with the 
library until 1816, when a committee was appointed to 
confer with the physicians, with authority to purchase 
such books from the library of the late Dr. Benjamin 
Smith Barton as they deemed desirable. The medical 
portion was found to be mainly composed of duplicates 
of books already in possession of the Hospital, but those 
on Natural History and Botany were purchased at a 
cost of nearly twenty-eight hundred dollars. During 
this year nearly ^400 sterling were invested in the 
importation of books. In 1818, the second part of the 
catalogue was issued. In 1822, the first "Committee 
to have charge of the Library" was appointed, who 
were requested to associate with them Drs. James and 
Hewson in its care and superintendence. In 1823, over 
four hundred dollars were expended in the purchase of 
sundry books and instruments,-the effects of Dr. Wil- 
liam Price; and a vote of thanks was passed to Dr. 41 
Parke, who had acted as purveyor to the library, ^600 
sterling having been at various times placed in his 
hands for the purchase of books. 
The Library Committee was instructed in 1824 to 
remove such bookcases as were in the room on the 
second floor, so as to appropriate that chamber to the 
use of the Lying-in Department. In March of this 
year, Mr. William Gunn Malin was appointed Clerk, 
to whose duties those of Librarian were added the fol- 
lowing year, continuing in this dual capacity until 1840, 
when he was appointed Steward,-in all of which po- 
sitions he has faithfully and conscientiously labored for 
the best interests of the Hospital. In 1827, a committee 
was appointed to inquire the price, etc. of Mascagni's 
plates, but, as they were valued at five hundred and 
nineteen dollars, it was decided not to purchase them. 
In 1829, a new catalogue was prepared by the Libra- 
rian, with which was incorporated a " Sketch of the 
History of the Medical Library," by the same reliable 
authority. The latter publication gave so much satis- 
faction that one thousand extra copies were printed the 
following year. The catalogue numbered 5828 vol- 
umes, and a supplement to it was published in 1836. 
Dr. Louis, of Paris, received, in 1833, the thanks of 
the Managers for valuable aid afforded by him in the 
selection of books. In 1837, the South Sea Surveying 
and Exploring Expedition, as it is called upon the 
minutes, though generally known as the United States 
Exploring Expedition, made application for certain 
books on Comparative Anatomy and Natural History, 
which the Library Committee were authorized to sell 
them, as it was found they could be replaced by send- 
ing to Europe. In 1841, the numerical strength of the 
library was slightly diminished by the transference of 
certain books on diseases of the mind and on general 
literature to the Hospital for the Insane, then, as now, 42 
under the able management of Dr. Kirkbride. Dr.. 
Charles D. Meigs, being about to leave for Europe in 
the spring of 1845, was authorized by the Managers 
to purchase, during his absence, works for the library 
at a cost of not more than three hundred dollars. 
The increasing number of books rendered it indis- 
pensable, in 1847, that additional accommodations 
should be provided for them. In a special report of 
the Library Committee on this subject, they state that 
"the existing bookcases are all full, and there is obvi- 
ously no space for more, either in the present library- 
room or in the apothecary-shop or hall. The commit- 
tee therefore recommend that the partitions in the late 
female medical ward in the second story of the centre 
building be removed, and that it be suitably fitted up 
for the reception of the medical library. A fine room 
will thus be obtained, of convenient size, light, airy, and 
in all respects well adapted to the purpose. It will also 
serve for the Managers' room, and the present library 
may then be used exclusively for the office." Such is 
the present arrangement; but the old cases still remain 
in the office for other useful purposes, with the quaint 
staircase winding up in one corner, invisible until the 
doors of the case are opened. The alterations for the 
new library were at once effected, the physicians and 
surgeons agreeing that the expense should be defrayed 
from the medical fund; and the library was removed 
to the second floor early the next year, the Managers 
meeting there for the first time in June. 
In 1852, Mr. George Ord presented one hundred and 
six volumes on Natural History and Medicine, chiefly 
standard works, and in 1861 a valuable ornithological 
work, by C. J. Temminck, which, when bound, consti- 
tuted five folio volumes, with colored plates. 
The Library Committee was authorized in 1855 to 
employ a suitable person to prepare a catalogue; and 43 
this labor was very faithfully and effectively performed 
by Dr. Emil Fischer, the catalogue embracing seven 
hundred and fifty pages, being exceedingly valuable for 
reference. A supplement to this, by August F. Muller, 
at that time the Librarian, was published in 1867, 
during which year also a resolution was adopted charg- 
ing three dollars per annum to physicians and students 
for the use of the library. As in the earlier days of its 
history the museum was connected with the library, so 
also for a number of years past an anatomical and 
pathological museum has been annexed to it, under the 
charge of the same committee. The library grows 
quietly but slowly, scarcely ever receiving a donation, 
and yet the cases are now so crowded that several hun- 
dred volumes have been removed to another part of 
the building. The fee for life-privileges of the use of 
the library and attendance on the practice of the house 
is twenty-five dollars. 
From the time of its passing out of the hands of the 
Apothecaries and Apprentices, the library has been 
under the care of several Librarians, almost all of whom 
have also acted as Clerks. These, mentioned in order 
of sequence, are as follows: William G. Malin, 1824- 
1840; William R. Clapp, 1840-1849; William H. Go- 
brecht, M.D., 1849-1850; Joshua Whitall, M.D., 1851- 
1852 ; William A. Dobbyn, 1853-1857 ; David T. Lewis, 
M.D., 1857-1861; Richard Randolph, Jr., 1861-1863; 
Joshua P. Edge, 1863-1865; August F. Muller, 1865- 
1867 ; and Alexander D. Stockton, the present incum- 
bent, since that time. During portions of 1850, 1851,. 
1853, and 1854, temporary appointments were made by 
the Library Committee. 
The two great libraries of the Pennsylvania Hos- 
pital and the College of Physicians would, if combined, 
form a very remarkable literary collection, embracing 
works in every department of medical literature and 44 
the kindred sciences. A comparison of the library 
catalogues of the two institutions exhibits a surprising 
absence of duplication ; indeed, so many works are 
found in the one that have no place in the other, that 
these fine libraries, which in their aggregate sum up over 
twenty-seven thousand volumes, may be said to supple- 
ment each other. If any action looking to their con- 
solidation should ever take place, Philadelphia would 
possess a magnificent library, far surpassing in value 
and resources that of any other cisatlantic city, which 
would be the pride of the profession. The Hospital 
library has never yet accomplished its full measure of 
usefulness ; it is comparatively buried, its privileges act- 
ually enjoyed by but few, and its merits neither popu- 
larly known nor deservedly appreciated. It now em- 
braces fully twelve thousand volumes, and there is not 
a department of medical science that is not illustrated 
in it; but the rules prescribe that it shall be open only 
three times a week for an hour at a time. It is princi- 
pally used by the officers of the house, and only occa- 
sionally by the profession at large, although, as we have 
seen, founded and sustained by the unselfish relinquish- 
ment of fees by medical men. 45 
THE MEDICAL LIBRARY OF THE PHILA- 
DELPHIA HOSPITAL. 
A BOUT nine years ago, Dr. D. Hayes Agnew, in a 
4*- lecture on "The Medical History of the Philadel- 
phia Almshouse," gave many interesting particulars in 
regard to the library connected with the Hospital. From 
this we learn that the subject was first agitated for legis- 
lative aid in 1805, and that in 1808 a room was assigned 
for the library and the first expenditure for books made. 
The senior student was subsequently appointed Libra- 
rian, rules were adopted, money appropriated during 
several years out of the receipt for house pupils, and 
life-privileges granted for the use of the library at thirty 
dollars. In 1816, the Apothecary also became the Li- 
brarian, and a catalogue was prepared, estimated by 
Dr. McClellan, in 1818, to number one thousand and 
twenty-two volumes. In 1827, Dr. Horner presented one 
hundred and twenty foreign theses. Dr. E. F. Rivinus,, 
one of the Resident Physicians, compiled a catalogue 
in 1831, which seems to be the only one ever printed,, 
and which proved this library to be especially rich in 
ancient medicine and surgery. In 1836, the "United 
States Exploring Expedition" offered to purchase, at a 
large advance over the cost price, several important 
works belonging to the Hospital; but the offer was re- 
fused. The sale of clinical tickets enabled the medical 
board to add many books to the library, which soon 
numbered over three thousand volumes. The present 
aggregate probably varies but little from this total, for,, 
although an annual appropriation of two hundred and 
fifty dollars has been made for several years past, we 
learn from Dr. Agnew's sketch that the library "has 
been plundered, by the vandalism to which it has 
been exposed, of much valuable matter." Dr. C. Pen- 46 
dleton Tutt was for several years Librarian, and was 
succeeded after his death in 1866 by Dr. J. L. Ludlow, 
the present Librarian, whose duties seem to be rather 
directed to the purchase and general supervision of the 
books, the giving out of these being intrusted to a reli- 
able resident pauper. 
The nuclei of other libraries may be found in several 
of our medical institutions; but none of them have as 
yet risen to such importance as to deserve special men- 
tion, though hereafter they may become of historic 
interest. A large number of medical works may also 
be found in our extensive miscellaneous libraries, as 
the Mercantile and the Philadelphia; the former con- 
taining about one thousand medical volumes, and the 
latter, in the main library and in its Loganian collec- 
tion, several thousand volumes of very choice old med- 
ical books of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth 
centuries. It seems unfortunate that such literary med- 
ical gems are not placed where they might be better 
known and appreciated. 
THE END. THE 
PUBLIC MEDICAL LIBRARIES 
OF 
PHILADELPHIA.