Lehrbuch der Haut- und Geschlechtskrankheiten für Studirende und Ärzte 1889 - 1890

Curator: This is a quite aged textbook from 1890, “Lehrbuch der Haut- und Geschlechtskrankheiten für Studirende und Ärzte,” which translates to “Textbook of Skin and Venereal Diseases for Students and Doctors," by Edmund Lesser. What’s your immediate impression? Editor: Well, seeing that open book there is an immediate and obvious question about all the hands that handled it. Considering its focus, I cannot help but wonder about the intimate relationship those practitioners had with their patients. It’s strangely tactile and evocative! Curator: Precisely! The textbook itself is fascinating. Consider the typography; it has that late 19th-century seriousness, aiming for clinical objectivity, but perhaps also reflecting some societal anxiety about hygiene and health. The design of the page—how text fills it— speaks to a certain informational density that perhaps characterizes scientific communication during this period. Editor: Absolutely! You're drawn in with its age and you notice the little details—a touch of foxing on the pages, you notice the print quality of the typeface. Also the cover itself has that great old marble look—like something unearthed from the back room of a dusty bookstore. And the very concept...it’s kind of morbidly poetic. I bet these books are worth a fortune these days. Curator: Its construction as an object intrigues me too. The tactile quality—you alluded to it, the binding, paper stock – how does its materiality reinforce or perhaps undermine the "scientific" project of objective observation and detached analysis? The physical nature adds to the understanding and makes the past more available, more "here." Editor: It really bridges the gap. You touch the page and your mind flashes with thoughts and scenarios of the students poring over them in the 19th century...and all those "mystery" conditions. Anyway— it leaves you hoping they didn’t experiment too much! Curator: Agreed. The textbook transcends just providing information and speaks volumes about its era's views on medicine and scientific progress. Editor: Makes you think, doesn’t it? That’s the kind of experience that makes history…well, palpable!