The Hagströmer Medico-Historical

Library: a cultural treasure

Anna Lantz Essäist

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Omslagsbild: Muscle manneqiun from Andreas Vesalius, Fabrica, printed in Basel, 1543.

Layout: Marie Oscarsson

Utgivare: Karolinska Institutet

© Anna Lantz & Hagströmerbiblioteket

ISBN:Stockholm 2012

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The Hagströmer Medico-Historical Library: a cultural treasure

Anna Lantz

Hagströmer Medico-Historical Library, Sweden

were donated by distinguished Swedish physici-ans of the 18th and the early 19th century, some valuable private special collections were dona-ted in the early 20th century. Today, the library comprises some 35,000 books, a gold mine of information for anyone interested in the his-tory of medicine and related sciences, medical book printing, and medical illustration. The majority of the collection was published before 1860, with the oldest book printed during the incunabula period. Beautifully located in the Haga Park, near the Karolinska University Hos-pital in Solna, the library is not only frequented by researchers, it is the site of exhibitions and events as well. Within the collections are several first editions and manuscripts by Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), the famous Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist. Included is his personal copy of the revolutionary Systema Naturae;4 printed in Leyden in 1735, the book presents Linnaeus’ system of classification of plants, animals, and minerals. On the title page, Exemplar Auctoris is written in ink by Linnaeus’ own hand. During the Linnaeus Year 2007, Hagelin went on a world tour, showing the book at, among other places, the National Museum of Natural History in Washington and the National Museum of Na-ture and Science in Tokyo, where he met the Ja-panese emperor—a distinguished biologist. Se-veral manuscripts and first editions by Linnaeus’ disciples are also represented in the collections.

Anders Johan Hagströmer (1753–1830) was one of Sweden’s leading anatomists and a student of Linnaeus. A cofounder of both the Swedish Society of Medicine and of the Ka-rolinska Institute,1 he was also a collector of medical and scientific books, which he dona-ted to the library of the Collegium Medicum2

in Stockholm. In 1816 the collection was moved to the Karolinska Institutet, after which time its library held the most important collection of medical and scientific literature in Sweden.3

In the famous anatomist’s honor, the rare books expert Ove Hagelin founded the Hagströmer Medico-Historical Library in 1997 in order to bring together the old and rare books and ma-nuscripts from the Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish Society of Medicine. Since then it has been substantially enriched by several deposi-tions and donations, among them the old and rare book collections from the Swedish Phar-maceutical Society and the Swedish Society of Dentists. While a large number of the volumes

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Another legendary rarity is the first edition of William Harvey’s De Motu Cordis,5 prin-ted in Frankfurt am Main in 1628. Printed on poor-quality paper, this thin volume of only 72 pages transformed the whole scien-tific understanding of the human body and created modern physiology by describing for the first time the circulation of the blood.

Equally important is Andreas Vesalius’ Fabrica6

printed by Johannes Oporinus in Basel in 1543, marking the beginning of modern anatomy. The remarkably accurate text is accompanied by over 200 woodcut illustrations of the highest ar-tistic and technical brilliance. Among the illus-trations of bones, muscles, blood vessels, ner-ves, thoracic organs, abdominal viscera, and the brain are the famous 14 “muscle men” set against a beautiful panorama of the surroundings of Pa-dua, where Vesalius was professor of anatomy. The library also holds the Epitome, a brief sum-mary of the approximate 700 pages that consti-tute the Fabrica and printed in the same year.

Among the library’s many herbal texts from the 16th and 17th centuries is New Kreüterbuch, written by Leonard Fuchs, one of the three Ger-man fathers of botany. It was printed by Isengrin in Basel in 1543. Richly illustrated, the book des-cribes over 400 wild and 100 domestic plant spe-cies and their medical use. Colored by hand and accompanied by more than 500 woodcuts made by some of the best artists in Basel, it is consi-dered one of the most beautiful herbal texts ever made. Fuchs himself (and three artists at the end) is depicted in full-length at the beginning of the book—the first time that illustrators were depic-ted and named in a printed book.7

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Notes1. The Karolinska Institutet is the largest centre for medical education and research in Sweden, and one of the world´s leading medical univer-sities. 2. Collegium Medicum was founded in Stock-holm, 1663.3. Gadd, Ann-Sofie. Vem var Anders Johan Hagströmer? Stockholm, Hagströmerbibliote-ket, 1999.4. Systema naturae, sive regna tria naturae sys-tematice proposita per classes, ordines, genera, & species (System of nature through the three kingdoms of nature, according to classes, or-ders, genera and species). 5. Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus (An anatomical exer-cise on the motion of the heart and blood in living beings).6. De humani corporis fabrica libriseptem (On the fabric of the human body).7. Hagelin, Ove. Old and rare books on Materia Medica. Stockholm, Swedish Pharmaceutical Press, 1997.

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Anna Lantz, Essäist

Anna Lantz is an Art Historian working in the Hagströmer Medico-Historical library as an administrative officer, responsible for the Wess-ler-collection of ca 600 pictures, artefacts, and books related to odonthology.

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