Page 20 - Layout 1

LIBRARY
REVIEW

The plush seating area in the P.I. Nixon Medical
Historical Library.Opposite: The cover of Dr.
George Cupples' casebook. Opposite: A draw-
ing of a flea from Robert Hooke's 1667 book Mi-
crographia. Opposite: The title page for
Vesalius' book on human anatomy De Humani
Corporis Fabrica published in 1543.

By Fred Olin, M.D.

One of the unsung treasures of the University of Texas Health terial relating to the history of medicine in San Antonio and envi-
Science Center at San Antonio is the P. I. Nixon Medical Historical rons. Let’s look at all three.
Library, located on the fifth floor of the Briscoe Library at 7703
Floyd Curl Drive. The core of the collection of the Historical Library was
brought together by the Bexar County Medical Society largely
Physically, it is an attractive room with comfortable seating, through the efforts of the late P. I. Nixon, M.D. The materials
book-lined shelves and large tables upon which one can work. You range from the oldest book, De Medicina by Celsus, from 1481,
can see a picture of it here: http://library.uthscsa.edu/ to newer items from the early 20th Century. Included are a copy
2011/11/nixon-library/ Perhaps you recall Dr. J. J. Waller’s recent of Vesalius’s seminal book on human anatomy, De Humani Cor-
contributions to San Antonio Medicine about the history of med- poris Fabrica, (1543) and one of Robert Hooke’s books, Micro-
icine in San Antonio: much of the research was done here. graphia, (1667). Vesalius did a wonderful job, considering the
limitations on dissection that were in place during his lifetime:
I visited the library a couple of times and visited with Lisa Matye the illustrations are clear and even the nomenclature is familiar.
Finnie and Jaclyn Georges, the staffers who manage the library and Hooke’s book intrigued me because of my background as a vet-
its collections. They are friendly and helpful, and know the place erinarian. He was one of the earliest academic microscopists.
inside and out. They told me that there are now about 6,000 items There’s a drawing of a flea that rivals anything I saw (or drew)
in the library, distributed over three major collections: The P. I. in the very extensive and memorable parasitology course we had
Nixon Medical Historical Library, the University Archives and ma-

20 San Antonio Medicine • February 2016