The Historical Collections of the New York Academy of Medicine Library contain 49,000 volumes and more than 100,000 pamphlets in the history of medicine and other health-related disciplines. Of these, rare materials dating from 1700 B.C. to 1800 A.D. number approximately 32,000 volumes. The secondary sources include a large history of medicine collection, and an extensive reference collection of medical bibliography, biography, and dictionaries, as well as books on the history of books and book printing. The general Academy Library collection is one of the most complete in the world for the period 1801-1960. In addition to the Academy's own archives, the collection houses the archives of many health-related institutions and organizations of the city. These archives serve as a primary resource for the history of health administration, medical education, public health, and medical practice in New York City. SERVICES: reference, interlibrary loan, photo duplication.

Incunabula: 143 titles; 16th century: 2,100 titles; 17th century: 2,300 titles; 18th century: 7,300 titles. Classics: 16th century European works, with special emphasis on anatomy and surgery. Works from other time periods: originals, translations, reprints of Aristotle, Galen, Hippocrates, Avicenna, Ketham, Malpighi, Jenner, etc. Original works by the great men of science: Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Bacon, etc. Manuscripts: over 2,000, notably the Edwin Smith surgical papyrus (1700 B.C.), and De re culinaria (9th century). Subject areas: plagues and epidemics; astrology and the occult; popular healing with emphases on diet, balneology, cookery and nutrition; medical Americana (late 17th to mid 19th century); European medical dissertations (17th to 19th century); early works on cardiology, including the two first editions of Harvey's De motu cordis... (1628); broadsides (16th 19th century) on such topics as public health and food regulation. The named special collections include, but are not limited to: Michael M. Davis Collection of Social and Economic Aspects of Medicine; Margaret Barclay Wilson Collection on Food and Cookery; Hayes Martin Collection of 17th through 20th century engravings and woodcuts; Beekman Collection of Hunteriana; Rufus Cole Collection of works by Redi; Harms Collection of pre 1900 psychiatry and psychology. The collections of portraits of physicians and illustrations of medical activities include over 275,000 items. Printed Catalogs: Portrait Catalog (3rd Supplement, 1976), Illustration Catalog (3rd Supplement, 1976), Author Catalog of the Library (1st Supplement, 1974); Subject Catalog of the Library (1st Supplement, 1974); Catalog of Biographies in the Library (1960).