Medical illustration and history of medicine at Belskie Museum

The Belskie Museum of Art & Science in northern New Jersey has medical illustration and history of medicine sculptures done by Abram Belskie. I recently visited it and took some photos of his works.

It appears as though they may hold his papers which might make an interesting research project. Belskie worked on a Birth Atlas in 1940. The museum publishes a small booklet about him that's available at the information desk.

Letter of the Day: December 25

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1122

58 Washington St
Newport, R.I.
25 Dec. 1895

Dear Dr. Huntington,

I have received [?] German Swiss list. As [? ? ?] :

Dr. Charles Albert. Do you know his locality, + dates of birth + death?

Scholae Regiae Chirurg. 1775.
In one of my specimens of this, there is upon the book which rests against the column: L. VERO CONT | Q VIXAN and nine medals with the vase. In another, upon the book: XP (in monogram [?]) BR MUTAE | BQ VIXIT.D and nineteen medals. Which is yours? And what the explanation of these inscriptions? In both of mine the female leans her right arm on pedestal, and has wreath in right hand and roll in left. You give the contrary.

The 1690 medal was new to me. There is another of that date, but quite different.

Verein Deutscher Aerzte in Paris. You have “Gegrundad”. Is it not gegrundet? Is the Nunquam otiosus in quotations, as you give it?

Apoticaires et Epiciers. You say mortar + pestle “surrounded” by a crown. Did you mean this, or surmounted? There is another medal, somewhat similar.

Vaccination. Petit-Mangin. Is all with the wreath struck? or engraved?

Cholera. H. Ponscarme. Is the inscr. On tablet struck? or engraved?

Dr. F Chabaud. Is field of rev. struck? or engraved? I enclose rubbing of own of my own (silver) with obv. apparently similar, save CAQUE F. + with reverse save field, seemingly identical. These struck fields I presume to be separate, + inserted into the body of the medal. You say “bust” on obverse, mine has only head.

Emmerez. Dirigit [?] ut Prosit. Is it “Pharmacopoea” as you have it, or Pharmacopoea? At right, is there YCR in monogram, or is your Baron Pare? + is there any date in exergue?

With best wishes of the season,

Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer

Letter of the Day: October 23 - numismatics

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 976

October 23, 1895

Dr. Horatio R. Storer,
Newport, R.I.

Dear Dr. Storer:

Your very kind letter of the 20th inst. has been in received and in return I wish to say that it will give me great pleasure to assist you in making your articles on the interesting subject of medical numismatics as complete as possible, asking only that you will give due credit as to the source of information.

The description of the Vercelli medal of which I spoke in my previous letter is as follows:


Obverse: Bust to left, in high relief. Under shoulder: G. Galeazzi F. – Perigraph: AL CARD. GVALA BICCHIERI PATR. VERCELL. FONDATORE. Beneath bust: MCCXX.

Reverse: Inscription in seven lines: LA |CONGREGAZIONE | DELLO SPEDALE MAGG. | DI VERCELLI | REGNANDO CARLO ALBERTO | PADRE DEI POVERI | MDCCCXLI.

Bronze, size 28.

I attempted to take an impress of the medal, but did not succeed on account of the high relief.

The errors pointed out by you at the time the Lee collection was purchased for the Museum have all been corrected long ago, and this office endeavored to carefully compare the descriptions of medals given by you in your various publications with the medals in this collection, and to ascertain what medals of the Museum collection have not been referred to by you. To complete this comparison I am anxious to obtain the following publications which are not on file in this office, viz.:

American Journal of Numismatics,
1887, October.
1888, January, July, October.
1889, April, July, October.
1890, January, April, July, October.
1891, “, “, “, “
1892, “, “, “, “
1893, January, April.
1895, October.

and I should be very thankful if you will point out a way of obtaining them. All other publications noted on the printed circular which you kindly forwarded are in the Library.

In making the above comparisons some deviations from your publications have been noted on our cards, and I shall gladly point them out to you. As you well know the work will have to be carefully done and will require considerable time and labor; but I will endeavor to give you from time to time such information as may be of use to you.

In regard to duplicates that you may have received through the Fisher and other collections, if you will send me a list of them, with prices, I will select such as are not in our collection to be submitted for purchase.

There was lately submitted to me a medal of Fortunius Licetus, 1577-1657- (see C.A. Rudolphi, 1829, No. 395, and Duisburg, 1862, No. XLVI, ) silver, claimed to be very rare, if not unique; but I hesistated to purchase on account of the price, $37.50. Is the medal as rare as represented?

Returning Dr. Frazer’s letter, I remain,
Very sincerely yours,
D.L. Huntington
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
In charge of Army Medical Museum and Library.

Letter of the Day: August 27

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1661

August 27, 1896

Dr. H.R. Storer,
Newport, R.I.

Dear Dr. Storer:

I herewith send you description of medal of Freemason’s Hospital at Hamburg, which you desired:

Obverse: A female figure, seated, holding in outstretched left a palm branch over a hospital building; serpent wound around her right arm feeds from a cup held by a genius standing at the side of the figure. O Bergmann, Hamburg. In exergue: 1795-1895.

Reverse: Inscription in a wreath of two laurel branched tied by a ribbon: Zur Erinnerung | an das | 199-jaehrige | Bestehen | des Freimaurer - | Krankenhauses | zu Hamberg | 3. October 1895.

Bronze, size 27.

Please accept my thanks for the Newport Herald containing notice of Jenner memorials and also copy of “Memorials” reprinted from Jour. Am. Med. Assoc.

Very sincerely yours,
D.L. Huntington
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
In charge of Museum and Library Division

Letter of the day, May 31

We wish we had a benefactor, too.


May 31, 1912.

Mr. Leo Hamburger
Scheffelstrasse 24
Frankfurt, a/M

Sir;

In reply to your of 21st inst. Enclosing copy of letter of 29th Feby., 1912, relative to the purchase of collection of medals, “Pestilentia in nummis” of the late Mr. Pfeiffer for $10,000, you are informed that there is no money available for this expenditure, and that your suggestion to find some prominent man who would be willing to purchase the collection and present it to the Museum is entirely impracticable.

Very respectfully,
Walter D. McCaw
Lt. Col. Medical Corps, U.S.A.
In charge of Museum & Library Division

Letter of the day, May 7

Shown is the list of medals sent for consideration.

Ed. Frossard,
Coins, Stamps, etc.
787 & 789 Broadway, N.Y.
Collections quickly catalogued
At Special Rates.

May 7, 1890

My dear Sir,

In reply to your favor of yesterday inquiring about medical tokens, etc, I beg state that it was designed not to separate the lot of Famine tokens, but in view of the fact that several are slight varieties of each other & that you do not wish to accumulate duplicates, I have decided to allow you to make the 23 selections (A.M.M. Nos. 1172-1194 Misc. Sect.) desired from lot of 44 and to return the others with balance Medical medals not selected from this lot.

Thanking you for promptness in making selection,

I am Sir Very respectfully Yrs
Ed Frossard

Dr. J.S. Billings

AAHM Special, Continued

More photos from our collection. These guys got some medals!

The Bronze Medal of the Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association Of North America presented to William J. Mayo. NCP 1086:

Henry Jacob Bigelow Medal presented to Dr. William J. Mayo. NCP 1085:

The Finlay Congressional Distinguished Service Medal of the Republic of Cuba awarded to Dr. W.J. Mayo in January 1929. NCP 1088:

Cross of Knight Commander of the Royal Order of the Crown of Italy presented to the Mayo brothers. NCP 1089:

Medal of the American Medical Association presented to William James Mayo. NCP 1090:

Distinguished Service Medal awarded to Col. William J. Mayo. NCP 1091:

Medal Presented to Brigadier General W.J. Mayo, Inactive Section, O.R.C., U.S. Army, October 14, 1938, by the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States in Recognition of His Loyal Support of the National Defense Program. [One also awarded to Charles Mayo, NCP 1099.] NCP 1092:

Gold Medal of the National Institute of Social Sciences presented to Dr. William J. Mayo. NCP 1093:

Medal of the Minnesota State Medical Association awarded to William James Mayo. NCP 1094:

Medal of the Minnesota State Medical Association awarded to Charles Horace Mayo. NCP 1095:

Bronze medal of the Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association of North America presented to Dr. Charles Horace Mayo. NCP 1096:

Insignia of Corresponding Foreign Membership in the Mexican Academy Of Surgery, Dr. Charles H. Mayo, June 1936. Insignia of Honorary Membership in the Mexican National Academy Of Medicine, Dr. Charles H. Mayo, January 1932. NCP 1097:

Insignia of Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honor Of France, awarded to Dr. Charles H. Mayo by the President of the Republic of France October 28, 1925. NCP 1098:

Distinguished Service Medal awarded to Colonel Charles H. Mayo. NCP 1100:

Medal of the American Medical Association awarded to Charles Horace Mayo. NCP 1101:

Medal of Instituto Medico Valenciano presented to Dr. Charles Mayo. NCP 1102:

Unidentified Medal presumably awarded to the Mayo Brothers. NCP 1103:

Letter of the day, February 27

War Department,
Surgeon General's Office,
U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library
Corner 7th and B Streets SW
Washington February 27, 1902

Dr. H.R. Storer,
230 Central Park South
New York, N.Y.

Dear Sir:

Your note of the 17th inst. has been received. We have had no accession to our collection since November last.

The plaster medaillon [sic] of Dr. A.P. Southwick in our collection, has on the back: "By T.S. Hitchcock, M.D.S. Sculptor, Oswego, New York, 1898". Your remark in reference to Alfred Porter, S. of Buffalo, N.Y., has been noted.

The only reference to the Hope medal in our Library is found in: An account of the Life, Writings and Character of the late Dr. John Pope, &c. by Andrew Duncan, M.D.F.R.S.&A.S. Ed., Edinburgh, 1789, p.20, as follows: "By bestowing entirely at his own expense, an annual gold medal, as a testimony of superior merit, he gave a spur to exertion, from which the toils of study were alleviated by love of fame".

In the Congressional Library are the "Memoirs and Correspondence of Sir James Edward Smith, by Lady Smith, London, 1832. and on page 63 of the 1st volume, Sir James writes to his father under date Edinburgh, December 31, 1782: ["]I am to have Dr. Hope's medal, but 'tis not yet come from London".

No description of the medal is given in either reference.

Very truly,
Calvin DeWitt
Col. & Asst. Surgeon General, U.S.A.
In charge of Museum & Library Division

Letter of the Day: February 14

A subsequent letter from the AMA said they do not have the die but have no objection to having another medal struck. There is no reply (that I found) to a letter in the folder from Davis to Tiffany about the die. I couldn’t find any mention of this medal in Emu.


14 Feb. 1942
Secretary
American Medical Association
Chicago, Ill.

Dear Doctor:-

We have a very comprehensive collection of Medical Medals at this Museum and are endeavoring to add to it.

There was issued by your association sometime in 1914 a medal to Gen. William C. Gorgas. This medal is described and listed in Storer’s catalog of Medical Medals and was made by Tiffany Co., New York. As it was of gold it was the only one probably struck.

It is assumed that the dies are still in possession of the maker, Tiffany, or else were turned over to your office. In any event would it be possible to have a gilt bronze replica made for our collection?

So far as known this is the only medal of Gorgas and as he was our Surgeon General we feel that if possible this medal should be in our collection.

Any information concerning this will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Harry A. Davis

Maj. USA Ret.
Hist. Sect.

Letter of the day: Jan 20th

The Museum has an extensive numismatics collection – this letter shows how it was built up.

January 20, 1897

Dr. H. R. Storer,

Newport, R. I.

Dear Doctor:

Your letter of the 17^th inst. Has been received. I shall be glad to purchase the medals you offer at the prices quoted, viz:

Rokitansky, 6.10
Howard, Am. Jour. Num., 687, .35
“ “ “ 689, .35
“ “ “ “ 726, .50
------
$7.30

You may send them by Adams Express, freight to be paid here. We have Howard, Am. Jour. Num., #688.

The famine, Germany (Danket dem Herrn) seems to be identical with Pfeiffer u. Ruland #157, but ours has “Ps. 116,” and I can notice no defacement.

Very sincerely,

D. L. Huntington

Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army

In charge of Museum and Library Division

Medical challenge coin challenge

Challenge coins have been proliferating in recent years, due to decreasing costs among other reasons.

Information can be found in this article -http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/01/AR2009110102261.html

 

We have an extremely large, but not well-catalogued, numismatics collection occupying a couple of safes in Historical Collections. To better position the Museum for the long-term addition of these to the numismatics collection, I’ve proposed that we scan the ones that people have on their desks, and record who was giving the coin out and when. I did the ones on my desk this morning