Yale University Library Research Guides: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Library Resources at Yale: Special Collections

Special Collections Materials

Special collections at Yale are housed in many locations. Most collections relevant to biology will be held at the Medical Historical Library or at the Beinecke. Historical information about the university and scientists may be in Manuscripts and Archives.

Please let us know if you would like to integrate special collections teaching into a course by reaching out to us at marx.reference@yale.edu. We have many items in our historical collections that may enrich coursework for science students.

Most special collections relevant to molecular, cellular, and developmental biology will be about the development of microscopes and/or historical health sciences or optics. What follows are a few options.

The microscope made easy : or, I. The nature, uses and magnifying powers of the best kinds of microscopes ... II. An account of what surprizing discoveries have been already made by the microscope ..
Henry Baker, 1744. 14 leaves of plates. This book popularized microscopy in the 18th century.
An address delivered at the annual meeting of the Boston Microscopical Society
Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1877. He lectured to medical students in Boston in the mid-19th century about how to use the microscope. Some of Holmes' teaching instruments are held by the Smithsonian. He coined the term "anesthesia" and was active in finding the disease causes of "childbed fever," which killed many new mothers.
Anatomia seu interiora rerum : cum animatarum tum inanimatarum, ope & beneficio exquisitissimorum microscopiorum detecta, variisque experimentis demonstrata, una cum discursu & ulteriore dilucidatione epistolis ... datis comprehensa
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 1687. Self-taught, van Leeuwenhoek submitted many papers about microscopy and microbiology to journals. He observed bacteria and protozoa. This is one of his publications.
Observationes Circa Viventia : Qvæ In Rebvs Non Viventibvs Reperivntvr : Cvm Micrographia Cvriosa, Siue, Rerum minutissimarum Obseruationibus, quæ ope Microscopij recognitæ ad viuum exprimuntur
Filippo Buonanni, 1691. The first part of the book defends Aristotle and spontaneous generation. There are numerous plate images in this book. While this book does support outdated scientific ideas, it's an important one for thinking about the transition away from reifying Aristotle.

Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Library Resources at Yale: Special Collections

Special Collections Materials

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