Banned Books in the Historical Medical Library | Historical Happy Hour

Join former Historical Medical Library Director Heidi Nance as she discusses Banned Books in our Historical Medical Library.

Gutenberg printed his famous Gutenberg Bible sometime between 1452 and 1455. Within less than 100 years, the church, universities, and other authorities threatened by the unprecedented rapid spread of information issued lists of prohibited works by title or author. Many of these books made their way into our library stacks.

Come learn about what salacious information lives in books by Arnaldus de Villa Nova, a Catalonian physician, religious reformer, alchemist, and astrologer (like most wise men of his time!). Or "A regiment: how to protect yourself from the new plague called the English Schwaisz: and if you are caught with it, you should keep in it," by Cordus, Euricius (1486-1535), considered one of the founders of German botany. Or, what scandalous recipes are included in Konrad Gesner's (1516-1565) tome, "On secret remedies: a book of physicists, physicians, and partly also chemists, and economists in the preparation of wines of different flavors, especially for physicians and pharmacists” (loosely translated from the original Latin title). When a book is banned, what happens? What's the difference between being banned and being censored? Even today, what barriers to accurate medical information continue to exist?