
The Friedenwald Collection Masterpost
What have the Jews contributed to medicine? This question became vital in the late 19th century, a time of rising antisemitism. When medical authorities labeled Jews in poor urban enclaves as diseased, they lent support to those who saw the growing Jewish immigrant population as a plague on society.
But if the language of medicine denigrated Jews, it could also defend them. Many—Jews and non-Jews, alike—shared the view of Dr. Aaron Friedenwald (1836-1902), who stated in a speech given in 1896 that “in the teachings of Moses in regard to disease, we shall find the wisest legislation for the most complete system of public hygiene.” Advocates of the Jews could also point to a long history of achievements by Jewish physicians. By highlighting a legacy of health and healing, they attempted to counteract negative stereotypes.
Aaron’s son Harry Friedenwald (1864-1950), a noted ophthalmologist, was among these defenders of the Jewish people. He amassed a vast library that not only documents Jewish medical contributions from the Middle Ages to modernity, but also illustrates how Jews have viewed themselves through the lens of medicine.

We’ll be updating this post with links to more specific entries about each of the volumes we’ve chosen to feature in the exhibit! Follow us on twitter or friend us on facebook to keep informed about updates.
Library Case 1

Image from the Omnia Opera Isaac, 1515. Courtesy of the US National Library of Medicine. CP7.2016.1
Particularium dietarum, Isaac ben Solomon, Latin copy inscribed in the 14th century. Courtesy of the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Harry Friedenwald Collection. L2016.3.2
Aphorismi Rabi Moysi (Sayings of Moses Maimonides), 1508, Venice. Courtesy of the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Harry Friedenwald Collection. L2016.3.3
Library Case 2

Pietro Andrea Mattioli, Melchior Guilandinus and Amatus Lusitanus, from Historia Planatarum Universalis, 1650. Courtesy of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library at Johns Hopkins University. CP 40.2016.1
In Dioscoridis Anazarei de medica material, Amatus Lusitanus (João Rodrigues de Castelo Branco), 1558, Lyon. Courtesy of the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Harry Friedenwald Collection. L2016.3.4
Decree of Regulations Concerning Jews, 1593. Courtesy of the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Harry Friedenwald Collection. L2016.3.5
Library Case 3

Courtesy of the US National Library of Medicine. CP7.2015.3
Sefer Otzar haChayim, Jacob Zahalon, 1683, Venice. Courtesy of the US National Library of Medicine. L2016.4.2
Ma’aseh Tuviyya, Tobias Cohn, 1708 (?), Venice. Courtesy of the US National Library of Medicine. L2016.4.3
On the Diseases of the Jews, Elkan Isaac Wolf, 1777, Mannheim. Courtesy of the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Harry Friedenwald Collection. L2016.3.7
History of the Jewish Physicians, Eliakim Carmoly, 1858, Baltimore (originally published in French, 1844). Courtesy of the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Harry Friedenwald Collection. L2016.3.8
Library Case 4

Billroth’s Lecture at Vienna’s General Hospital, Adalbert Franz Seligmann, 1888-1890. Courtesy of Österreichische Galerie, © Belvedere, Vienna. CP5.2015.1
Űber das Lehren und Lernen der medicinischen Wissenschaften an den Universitäten der deutschen Nation, Theodor Billroth, 1876, Vienna . Courtesy of the US National Library of Medicine. L2016.4.4
Jewish Contributions to Medicine in America, Solomon Kagan, 1934, Boston. JMM Library.
The Jewish Contribution to Civilization, Cecil Roth, 1940, New York. JMM Library.