William H. Helfand Collection: Finding Aid
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http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c89k4hq9 No online items William H. Helfand Collection: Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Charla DelaCuadra and Krystle Satrum. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Prints and Ephemera 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: 626-405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org © 2018 The Huntington Library. All rights reserved. William H. Helfand Collection: priHEL 1 Finding Aid Overview of the Collection Title: William H. Helfand Collection Dates (inclusive): 1493-2006 Bulk dates: 1800-1900 Collection Number: priHEL Creator: Helfand, William H. Extent: approximately 7,100 items Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Prints and Ephemera 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org Abstract: The William H. Helfand Collection contains more than 7,000 European and American prints and ephemera relating to health professions including medical, dental, and mental wellness. The materials date from the 1490s to the early 21st century and contain many social and political cartoons that satirize health practices and practitioners. Noted illustrators represented include French artists Honore Daumier, Gustave Dore, J. J. Grandville, and Emile Vernier; British caricaturists Thomas Rowlandson, George Cruikshank, and James Gillray; and the American cartoonist Thomas Nast. Language: Primarily English and French. Note: Finding aid last updated on October 10, 2018. Publication Rights The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher. Preferred Citation [Identification of item]. William H. Helfand Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Provenance This collection was donated to the Huntington Library by William H. Helfand between December 2012 and September 2013. Access Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services. Biographical Note William Helfand (1926-2018) was a scholar of the histories of medicine, pharmacy and art, and collector of prints and ephemera related to all three. He started his career working in his father's pharmacy about the same time he started collecting images, as he says, "of things medical." Unable to afford paintings, he bought prints, and then also began buying trade cards, posters, sheet music, bookplates, and any other paper bearing medical text and images. When he joined the multinational pharmaceuticals firm Merck & Company, his collecting continued. In his tenure at Merck he rose to senior vice president of international operations and spent a few years living in Paris, a desirable location for a young print collector. Helfand was a Trustee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a member of the Board of the Library Company of Philadelphia, and a former president of the Grolier Club of New York. He held degrees in Chemical Engineering (University of Pennsylvania, 1948), Pharmacy (Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, 1952), and was awarded honorary degrees of Doctor of Humane Letters by the Albany College of Pharmacy, Union University in 1981, and Doctor of Science by the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science in 1976. Helfand authored five books about his medical and pharmaceutical ephemera, including Pharmacy: An Illustrated History (with David Cowen, Harry N. Abrams, 1990) and The Picture of Health (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1991). He published a number of essays, monographs, and articles on the history of pharmacy and on prints, caricatures, posters, and ephemera relating to pharmacy and medicine and was featured in publications such as Pharmacy in History, Medical History, Revue d'Histoire de la Pharmacie, and other journals. Helfand's popular 2002 exhibit at the Grolier Club in New York City, "Quack, Quack, Quack: The Sellers of Nostrums in Prints, Posters, Ephemera and Books" was accompanied by a book of the same name. A 1995 exhibition of Helfand's material at the Philadelphia Museum of Art was titled "Potions, William H. Helfand Collection: priHEL 2 Finding Aid Pills, and Purges: The Art of Pharmacy," and another exhibition there entitled “Health for Sale: Posters from the William H. Helfand Collection” was also accompanied by a book of the same name. In 1986 Helfand received the Pepys Medal of the Ephemera Society, London, for outstanding contributions to the field of ephemera studies. He also received the Kremers Award of the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy in 1972, and the Urdang Medal for distinguished historical writing from the same organization in 1989. Helfand retired in 1987 after more than 33 years with Merck & Co., but continued to collect and write about prints, posters, and ephemera. In 2006 The Ephemera Society of America awarded Helfand its highest honor, the Maurice Rickards Medal, for his extraordinary accomplishments in promoting ephemera studies. Scope and Content The William H. Helfand Collection contains more than 7,000 European and American prints and ephemera relating to health professions including medical, dental, and mental wellness. The materials date from the 1490s to the early 21st century and contain many social and political cartoons that satirize health practices and practitioners. Noted illustrators represented include French artists Honore Daumier, Gustave Dore, J. J. Grandville, and Emile Vernier; British caricaturists Thomas Rowlandson, George Cruikshank, and James Gillray; and the American cartoonist Thomas Nast. Materials are arranged geographically in four series: American, British, French, and Other and Unknown Origin. Approximately 2,500 items are cataloged individually, with title, date, artist, and type of print method provided (if known). Additionally, countries are provided (if known) for items in Series IV. The collection contains materials as diverse as portraits, caricatures, goigs (Catalan prayer sheets), stamps, product advertisements, periodical illustrations, and many others. These items offer a wealth of information regarding medicine, health, pharmaceuticals, patent medicines, quacks and quackery spanning over five centuries, as well as social perspectives on both the practices and practitioners in these fields. Alternative Form of Materials Available Visit the Huntington Digital Library to view digitized items from this collection. • Huntington Library Californiana Ephemera: Medicine, Science, Pseudo-science, Drugs • Jay T. Last Collection of Medicine Prints and Ephemera • Los Angeles County Medical Association Collection • William H. Helfand Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art • William H. Helfand Collection, Library Company of Philadelphia • multiple gifts by William H. Helfand, National Library of Medicine Arrangement The collection is arranged in the following four series: Series I. American Series II. British Series III. French Series IV. Other countries and unknown origin Items are arranged geographically and described in the following format: Title. Date Artist. Type of print. Country (when known and when applicable). Items are housed individually in sleeves or folders, and are located in 110 boxes. Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog. Subjects Advertising -- Drugs. Advertising -- Medicine. Boys -- Pictorial works. Children -- Pictorial works. Girls -- Pictorial works. Medicine. Men -- Pictorial works. Patent medicines. William H. Helfand Collection: priHEL 3 Finding Aid Physicians -- Pictorial works. Sick -- Pictorial works. Women -- Pictorial works. Forms/Genres Calendars. Certificates. Chromolithographs. Ephemera. Ephemera -- United States -- 19th century. Ephemera -- United States -- 20th century. Engravings. Handbills. Intaglio prints. Leaflets (printed works) Lithographs. Portraits. Postage stamps. Printed ephemera. Prints. Relief prints. Trade cards. Alternate Authors Cruikshank, George, 1792-1878. Daumier, Honoré, 1808-1879. Dore, Gustave, 1832-1883. Gillray, James, 1756-1815. Grandville, J. J., 1803-1847. Helfand, William H. Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902. Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827. Vernier, Emile Louis, 1829-1887. Series I. American 1772-2006 Physical Description: approximately 1,250 items Box 1 General prints and ephemera Physical Description: 70 items Box 2 General prints and ephemera Physical Description: 102 items Box 3 General prints and ephemera Physical Description: 204 items Box 4 General prints and ephemera Physical Description: 102 items Box 5 General prints and ephemera Physical Description: 145 items William H. Helfand Collection: priHEL 4 Finding Aid Series I. American 1772-2006 Box 10 Primarily portraits and caricatures Physical Description: 49 items Note Select items in this box are listed below. Drug Mills plate ccxl approximately 1835 Artist: Anderson, H Type: lithograph Advantage of famine prices 1863 Artist: Anon Type: lithograph That draft 1862 Artist: Anon Type: lithograph Scene in the Tribune office New York 1862 Artist: Anon Type: lithograph Case for the cold water cure 1864 Artist: Anon Type: lithograph drawing things to a head 1863 Artist: Anon Type: lithograph Extract const