Curious Remedies and Uncommon Cures: Five Centuries of Traditional Medicine
Welcome to Curious Remedies and Uncommon Cures
Drawing from rare materials held by the Rare Books Collection at CU Boulder Libraries, this exhibit highlights how peoples of the past treated and prevented ailments and diseases from plague to pox. It highlights over four 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, John Howard, Denis Diderot, and nineteenth-century healers and marketers.
This exhibit was co-curated by the Spring '24 through Fall '25 students of CU Boulder's Disease and Public Health in Global History, 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, CU Boulder Libraries for the use of their collections and for their much appreciated time and support.