Cushing as Collector

Cushing with his books

Harvey Cushing’s passion for books began as a young child surrounded by books collected by his father and grandfather, both physicians.   At Johns Hopkins, William Osler, whose own collection formed the basis of the Osler Library at McGill University,  “fed Cushing’s passion for book collecting and encouraged him on his European pilgrimages to see various medical historical memorabilia.” (Wahl et. al).   But it was his friend and colleague, Arnold Klebs, who encouraged him to “collect books for the ideas they embody and the story they tell of mental endeavor in special fields and times” (Cushing’s books at Yale).  In 1903 Osler gave Cushing a 1543 first edition copy of Vesalius’ De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem (On the Fabric of the Human Body in Seven Books).  Over his lifetime Cushing amassed the largest known collection of the works of  Andreas Vesalius.  Although Cushing especially liked to collect works of anatomy and surgery, his tastes were broad, encompassing the sciences as well as medicine.   He carefully researched every book he purchased,  retaining with the volumes his annotations and correspondence.  At the time of his death, Cushing was in the finishing stages of  writing his Biobibliography of Andreas Vesalius (1943).

“Cushing as Collector” is the subject of the current exhibit by Sarah Burge on display in the Library rotunda and in the hallway.  It features books by Vesalius and many other sixteenth century anatomists and surgeons, Persian anatomical manuscripts, his prized huge engravings of ecorches by Antonio Cattani after scupltures by Ercole Lelli, and Cushing’s own drawings of the brain, created during his Johns Hopkins period.

Cushing’s book and manuscript collection was bequeathed  to Yale University in 1939 and, with the holdings of colleagues and friends John Fulton and Arnold Klebs, formed the basis of the Cushing/Whitney Medical Historical Library.  A complete list of the items Cushing donated can be found in The Harvey Cushing Collection of Books and Manuscripts (1943).    Cushing’s bibliography of Vesalius and the bibliography of his entire collection are now available online in the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library Digital  Library.   http://www.med.yale.edu/library/find/digital.html Scroll down to the collection.

References

Cushing’s books at Yale, The Lancet, 243: 605.

Fulton, J.F., Kilgour, F.G., & Stanton, M.E. (1962). Yale Medical Library: The formation and growth of its Historical Library. Yale University. New Haven, CT.

Wahl, C.J., Tubbs, R.S., Spencer, D.D., and Cohen-Gadal, A.A. (2009). Harvey Cushing as a book collector, bibliophile, and archivist: the precedence for the genesis of the Brain Tumor Registry. Journal of Neurosurgery, 111: 1091-1095.

Beginnings

Harvey Cushing

The Dedication Ceremony of the Yale Medical Library occurred 69 years ago on June 15, 1941.  The Ceremony was the culmination of a vision that Dr. Harvey Cushing had to create a repository  at Yale University for his approximately 10,000 historical volumes.  Cushing had great enthusiasm for collecting rare medical books.  To make these books available to future generations he proposed to Yale that a Medical Library should be built in which to house them.  He also set about to encourage his colleagues to bequeath their rare and valuable collection of books and objects as the formation of the Library.  The result was a “Trinitarian Plan” whereby Dr. John Fulton and Dr. Arnold Klebs also donated their collections.  Cushing managed to persuade Dr. Edward Streeter as well to gift his valuable weights and measures object collection along with his rare books to the Library.

Harvey Cushing did not live to see the completion of his dream as he died on October 7, 1939.  However he was alive to hear the news that the plans for construction had been approved by the Yale Corporation after years of persuasive discussions. The proposal was that it be part of the Sterling Hall of Medicine which houses the Yale Medical School.  The design for the Library was that it be built in the shape of a Y with one arm of the Y dedicated to the historical works, and the other to house the modern collection.

Sterling Hall of Medicine

Sterling Hall of Medicine construction

Today the Library layout has changed only slightly.  The Medical Historical Library still is housed in one wing, and biographies and journals are now housed in what is now a reading room in the other wing.  In 19XX, the Library saw an addition that houses computers and reading spaces.  The floor immediately below the main level is dedicated to print journals as well as reading areas and a newly designed group learning space.  The  modern book collection is situated in the Library’s sub-basement level.

The most exciting recent modification to the Medical Library is the space repurposing and construction of the Cushing Center, which will house Cushing’s Tumor Registry.  The space opens on June 5, 2010, coincidentally 69 years since the Library’s dedication.  The Registry is testimony to the passion and dedication Harvey Cushing had to his profession of neurosurgery.

While visiting the Library is one way to view the amazing historical collections that founded the Library, we wanted to use this blog as a way for you to visit the treasures of the Historical Library virtually.  From time to time we will post something that intrigues us about the collection in the hope that it will entertain you.  We trust that you enjoy it as much as we enjoy bringing it to you.