Columbia University’s Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library is hosting a free lecture on 19th Century Medical Photography on April 3, 2014 as part of their History of the Health Science Lecture Series. The following is from their newsletter.

Ink and Silver: Medicine, Photography, and the Printed Book, 1845-1880
Stephen J. Greenberg, MSLS, PhD, Coordinator of Public Services, History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine
When: Thursday, April 3, 2014
(Refreshments, 5:30, Lecture 6pm)
Where: Russ Berrie Pavilion, Room 1, 1150 St. Nicholas Avenue at West 168th Street

The impact of the introduction of photography after 1839 on the arts and popular culture has long been extensively explored. The use of photography in medicine has also attracted the interest of historians and archivists, resulting in many significant collections of material both in public and private hands.

However, far too often, individual images have been made to stand alone, far removed from their original context, and therefore mysterious to the viewer. Why were these pictures taken? Who saw them? Were they meant for private study or professional publication? How did they reflect the techniques and aesthetics of the rest of contemporary photography? Most importantly, how, in a purely technical sense, did one produce and publish medical photographs in the 19th century?

Dr. Greenberg will address the use of photography in 19th-century printed medical books, both from technological and aesthetic viewpoints, using the vast photographic resources of the National Library of Medicine to highlight milestones in the history of medical photography, and to explain how they were presented to the viewer.