Malloch Circle

The Malloch Circle is the highest level of the Friends of the Rare Book Room for Friends who support the historical programs of NYAM at a minimum of $1,000 per year. Members of the Malloch Circle meet several times a year for dinners, special presentations of bibliographical and historical interest, and private tours of notable rare book collections.

Support from the Friends of the Rare Book Room contributes to public programs in the history of medicine, the acquisition and cataloging of historical scholarly material, and activities that make the Malloch Suite at NYAM a center for scholarship in the history of medicine and public health and for the study of books and printing.

This special group is named for Archibald Malloch, a protégé of William Osler, who served as the Academy's Librarian from 1926 to 1949.

To become a Friend of the Rare Book Room, please visit here.

Upcoming Receptions

Wednesday, May 29th, 2013 (RESCHEDULED FROM MARCH 5TH)

"Jean-Martin Charcot - The Role of Art in his Neurological Career"
Christopher G. Goetz, MD

Jean-Martin Charcot lived from 1825 to 1893 and was the first chaired professor of clinical neurology at the Faculté de Médecine in Paris. He received this honor in 1882 at the height of his illustrious career. In his teaching and medical practice, Charcot surrounded himself with students, residents, medical visitors from around the world, and often with non-medical observers. In these contexts, Charcot incorporated art and literature, and this lecture will focus on four areas of particular importance to Charcot's career. First, Charcot used drawings and carefully engineered photographic techniques as part of his scientific documentation of neurological disease. Second, Charcot incorporated artistic and literary allusions in teaching venues, culling materials from a wide breadth of artistic backgrounds to communicate his concepts related to neurological disorders. Third, Charcot used art at a pivotal and controversial point in his career when his ideas on hysteria were challenged. In this instance, he used art as scientific justification of the universality of the syndromes he was newly describing as neurological. Finally, as a self-made man of humble origins, Charcot used art as a social vehicle to broaden the image of neurology and himself to the intellectual public of his day. The lecture will provide examples from the Bibliothèque Charcot at the Salpêtrière Hospital, from the Charcot family archives, and other sources to illustrate the successes and failures related to the use of art and literature to support medical discovery.

Meet the Speaker at 6:00 p.m
Private view and meeting with Dr Goetz to view some of the books he will discuss in his lecture, Hartwell Room (Malloch Circle Member Only)

Reception (Room 21) for all guests
Cocktail Reception & Lecture (Room 21), for all guests at 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Please register here.

Upcoming Tour

Dr Eugene Flamm's collections (date to be determined)

Past Receptions

"The physical examination from Laennec to Verghese: or, what I learned from composing an exhibition of the Blaufox Collection of historic diagnostic instruments"
James Edmonson, PhD
Chief Curator, Dittrick Medical History Center

“Anatomy in the Third Reich”
Sabine Hildebrandt, MD
Lecturer, University of Michigan Medical School

“The Beauty of Anatomy: The Art of Teaching Surgery in Early Nineteenth-Century London”
Carin Berkowitz, PhD
Associate Director, Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry, Chemical Heritage Foundation

"The Lady Anatomist: The Life and Work of Anna Morandi Manzolini"
Rebecca Messbarger, PhD
Associate Professor of Italian, Washington University

"History of Homeopathy"
John Haller, Jr., PhD
Emeritus Professor of History and Medical Humanities, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

"Neurosurgery Before Neurosurgery: The Formative Years 1517-1867"
Eugene Flamm, MD
Chair, Department of Neurological Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

"Eradication of Smallpox"
D.A. Henderson, MD, MPH
Distinguished Scholar, Center for Biosecurity, University of Pittsburgh
Dean Emeritus, The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

"The Company of Undertakers"
William Helfand
Author and Medical Art Collector
Retired Executive, Merck & Company

"Historical Faces of Leprosy: Lessons from a Vanishing Disease"
Luke Demaitre, PhD
Professor of History, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center

"Chinese Diagnostic Dolls: For Doctors Only?”"
Christine Ruggere
Associate Director, Institute of the History of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University

"Darwin's Illness"
Garrett Herman
Chairman and CEO, Loewen, Ondaatje, McCutcheon & Company