About Special Collections & Archives

The historical collections at Lane Medical Library include monographs, rare journals, archival collections, personal papers, portraits, photographs, medical instruments, and other realia. Monographs and periodicals published 1850 or earlier and later materials, singled out because of their historical value, form the core. There are over 6,000 titles including 21 incunabula.

The Lane historical collections were established in 1895 when Emmet Rixford, Chair of the Library Committee, emphasized the importance of collecting historical materials, early Californian medical journals and ephemera such as broadsides and pamphlets. A significant effort to build the collection was carried out in 1922 when Adolph Barkan traveled to Germany to purchase the Seidel collection on behalf of Stanford University. Barkan continued to support the growth of the historical collection by endowing a fund in 1927. In 1989 a climate-controlled space with compact shelving was built within the library. It was at this point that Lane Library also officially founded an archival program. The archival collections, together with the rare books, medical instruments, and other realia that comprised the Special Collections were housed together in this remodeled facility, located, as it is currently, on the ground floor of Lane Library.

The scope and use of these collections varies. While these are two distinct collections, they also complement one another and their sum provides a unique and unrivaled collection for researchers from around the world. These collections provide invaluable resources for research not only on medical history, but in inter-disciplinary fields such as art history, philosophy, classics, and the history of printing.

Locating Materials: Use the History search found above; this searches the Lane catalog with limits to historical material, our community information file, and our FAQs as well as some outside resources. Additional information for locating specific archival documents is available in finding aids.

Donating: Lane accepts gift materials, historical and/or rare books, and monetary donations. To donate rare books or medical instruments, please contact Special Collections and Archives. To make monetary donations, please contact the Administrative Office at (650) 723-7197 or laneadmin@lists.stanford.edu