J. Antall szerk.: Medical history in Hungary. Presented to the XXII. International Congress for the History of Medicine / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 4. (Budapest, 1970)

MEDICAL HISTORY IN HUNGARY - J. Antall: Museum Affairs Concerning Medical and Pharmaceutical History in Hungary (in English)

Veterinary Faculty. But we have outlined the tendencies and the collections which are the historical or legal predecessors of the Semmelweis Medical Historical Museum, and as such, belong to the history of our institution. THE FORMATION OF THE SEMMELWEIS MEDICAL HISTORICAL MUSEUM After considering the past of medical and pharmaceutical historical museum affairs we have reached the present, that is the foundation of the Semmelweis Medical Historical Museum and Library, today acting as an independent institution. In fact it was established by uniting two independent institutes. First the National Medical Historical Library was set up by the Health Ministry in 1951. Right from the beginning it was in an organizational union with the National Institute of Rheumatism and Balneology, which rooted mainly in the fact that the basis of the collection was mainly the old book collection of the Hospital of the Brothers of Mercy, the predecessor of the hospital. Later on the book collections of several religious orders relating to medical history were added to it. In 1952 it received the material of the library of the one-time Royal Association of Physicians in Budapest. In addition to the books and periodicals the remains of the collection of the Medical Historical Museum of the Association also fell in the possession of the Library: instruments, documents, photos etc. They were not registered by the Library but were stored "dumped" for the already contemplated Medical Historical Museum. The Medical Historical Library has considerably increased its holdings since then facilitated also by the the National Széchényi Library and the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences by surrendering their duplicate copies. All that—together with acquisitions, presents and exchanges—contributed to the fact that today the Library can serve research with a hundred thousand books and periodicals. At its foundation the Library was accomodated in the building of the hospital mentioned, but in 1956 its present building, built in 1935—37 in neo-baroque style, was assigned to it. The character and the collection of the Library is determined by its double function: on the one hand it is the library (book-museum) of medical literature having any historical value (up to 1900), and it is a special library for medical history collecting the most important handbooks, periodicals and literature of the bordering fields on the other. The collection of rare books is composed of manuscripts made previous to the invention of printing incunabula (until 1500), foreign publications in 1501 — 1600 (rarissima-vetustissima), and early Hungarian printings from the starts up to 1711. Here one can find the products of the famous printing presses, unique copies, books known for their illustrations, famous bindings, books of noted possessors. The medical literature of the 18th and 19th centuries is rich both in Hungarian and in foreign works. Gradually special collections emerged within the holdings. 31