Curious Remedies and Uncommon Cures: Five Centuries of Traditional Medicine

John Gerard, Herball, 1636, Rare and Distinctive Collections, CU Boulder Libraries

Drawing from rare materials held by the Rare Books Collection and Archives, both part of Rare and Distinctive Collections CU Boulder Libraries, this exhibit highlights how peoples of the past treated ailments and diseases from the Late Middle Ages through the early decades of the twentieth century. 

The exhibit highlights over five centuries of curious remedies, cure-alls, and medical advances drawn from the scientific work of Johannes de Ketham, John Gerard, Maria Sibylla Merian, Elizabeth Blackwell, and Denis Diderot.  It also highlights the range of diseases, carefully tracked and tallied by dedicated volunteers, parish and city officials, and medical personel between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. 

This exhibit was written and co-curated by the students of CU Boulder's Disease and Public Health in Global History, an online History course offered by CU Boulder's Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies, taught by Susan Guinn-Chipman. 

Special thanks are due to Sean Babbs, Dulce Aldama, and Deborah Hollis of the Rare Books Collection, Rare and Distinctive Collections, CU Boulder Libraries for the use of their collections and for their time and support.