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Curious Remedies: Renaissance Surgery

Surgery is never a fun experience, but can you imagine what it would have been like before the advent of general anesthetic and other modern medical advances?

The current Harold B. Lee Library exhibit Curious Remedies: Medicine During the Renaissance provides a glimpse into the medical technology of the 16th and 17th centuries. On display are surgical textbooks by renowned 16th century military surgeons Paracelsus and Ambroise Paré, as well as books on human anatomy and dissection by Charles Estienne and Andreas Vesalius.

Besides the books on exhibit, other early books from Special Collections, like this illustrated surgical treatise by Johannes Scultetus (1595-1645), can be found by searching the library catalog with subject terms such as “surgery early works to 1800,” “human anatomy early works to 1800,” or “surgical instruments.”

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