Andreas Vesalius’ fatal voyage to Jerusalem (5)

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A Moment in History

Marcia Crocker Noyes
(1869 – 1946)

Further to my comment on old books and research that started with an interesting bookplate (Ex-Libris). I continued my research and found that the person in charge of the Osler library bookplate was a fascinating individual that today maybe a ghost in the MedChi library and building in Baltimore... This is certainly an article that can be called "A Moment in History"

Marcia Crocker Noyes was the librarian at The Maryland State Medical Society from 1896 to 1946 and was a founding member of the Medical Library Association.[1][2][3]

Sir William Osler, MD. a famous Johns Hopkins surgeon was a noted bibliophile and had a large personal collection of books on various topics. When he became the President of MedChi in 1896, he was dismayed at the condition of the library and knew that with the right person and some stewardship, it could become a significant collection. Sir William asked his friend, Dr. Bernard Steiner, a physician and President of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore for suggestions of a librarian, and Dr. Steiner recommended Marcia Crocker Noyes. A native of New York, and a graduate of Hunter College, Marcia had moved to Baltimore for a lengthy visit with her sister, and took a “temporary” position at the Pratt Library, which turned into three years. Although she had no medical experience or background, she was enthusiastic, and most importantly, she was willing to move into the apartment provided for the librarian, who needed to be available 24 hours a day.

The image in this article is Ms. Noyes on her first year on the job. Marcia developed a book classification system for medical books, based on the Index Medicus, and called it the Classification for Medical Literature. The system uses the alphabet with capital letters for the major divisions of medicine and lower-case ones for the sub-sections. The system was used for many years, but it's now dated and the Faculty's original shelving scheme was never changed. The card catalogs still reflect her classification and many of the cards are written in Marcia's back-slanting handwriting.

Marcia knew enough to ask the Faculty's members about medical questions, terminology and literature. She gradually won over the predominantly male membership and they became her greatest allies; Sir William at the start, and then for nearly 40 years, Dr. John Ruhräh, a wealthy pediatrician with no immediate family of his own. She made a point of attending almost every Faculty function, and in 1904, under guidelines from the American Medical Association, Marcia was made the Faculty Secretary. For much of her first 10 years, she was the Faculty's only full-time employee, only being assisted by Mr. Caution, the Faculty's janitor. Later in life Marcia would say that she hired him because of his name!

Within ten years, the library had outgrown its space, and plans, spearheaded by Marcia and Sir William before his move to Oxford, were made to build a headquarters building, mainly to house the library's growing collection of medical books and journals.

Marcia was instrumental in the design and building of the new headquarters. She travelled to Philadelphia, New York and Boston to look at their medical society buildings, and eventually, the Philadelphia architectural firm, Ellicott & Emmart was selected to design and build the new Faculty building. Every detail of the building held her imprimatur, from the graceful staircase, to the light-filled reading room, and all of the myriad details of the millwork, marble tesserae, and most of all, the four-story cast iron stacks. She was on-site, climbing up unfinished staircases, checking out the progress of the building, which was built in less than one year at a cost of $90,000.

Among the features of the new building was a fourth-floor apartment for her. She referred to it as the "first penthouse in Baltimore" and it had a garden and rooftop terrace. The library collection eventually grew to more than 65,000 volumes from medical and specialty societies around the world. Journals were traded back and forth, and physicians eagerly anticipated the arrival of each new issue. At the same time, Marcia was involved in the Medical Library Association as one of eight founding members. The MLA promotes medical libraries and the exchange of information. One of the earliest mandates of the MLA was the Exchange, a distribution and trade service for those who had duplicates or little-used books in their collections. Initially, the Exchange was run out of the Philadelphia medical society, but in 1900 it was moved to Baltimore and Marcia oversaw it. Several hundred periodicals and journals were received and sent each month, a huge amount of work for a tiny staff. In 1904, the Faculty had run out of room to manage the Exchange, so it was moved to the Medical Society of the Kings County (Brooklyn). But without Marcia's excellent administrative skills, it floundered and in 1908, the MLA asked Marcia to take charge once again.

In 1909, when the new Faculty building opened, there was enough room to run the Exchange and with the help of MLA Treasurer, noted bibliophile and close friend, Dr. John Ruhräh, it once again became successful. Additionally, Marcia and Dr. Ruhräh combined forces to revive the MLA's bulletin, which had all but ceased publication in 1908, taking the Exchange with it. This duo maintained editorial control from 1911 until 1926. In 1934, around the time of Dr. Ruhräh's death, Marcia became the first “unmedicated” professional to head the MLA. During her tenure, the MLA incorporated, the first seal was adopted, and the annual meeting was held in Baltimore. Marcia wanted to write the history of the MLA once she retired from full-time work at the Faculty, but her health was beginning to fail. She had back problems and had suffered a serious burn on her shoulder as a young woman, possibly from her time running a summer camp, Camp Seyon, for young ladies in the Adirondack Mountains. In 1946, a celebration was planned to honor Marcia's 50 years at the Faculty. But she was adamant that the physicians wait until November, the actual date of her 50 years. However, they knew she was gravely ill, and might not make it until then, so a huge party was held in April. More than 250 physicians attended the celebration, but the ones she was closest to in the early years, were long gone. She was presented with a suitcase, a sum of money to use for travelling, and her favorite painting of Dr. John Philip Smith, a founder of the Medical College in Winchester, Virginia. It was painted by Edward Caledon Smith, a Virginia painter who had been a student of the painter Thomas Sully.[4] She adored this painting and vowed, jokingly, to take it with her wherever she went.

The painting was not to stay with her for very long, for she died in November 1946, and left it to the Faculty in her will. Her funeral was held in the Faculty's Osler Hall, named for her dear friend. More than 60 physicians served as her pallbearers, and she was buried at Baltimore's Green Mount Cemetery. In 1948, the MLA decided to establish an award in the name of Marcia Crocker Noyes. It was for outstanding achievement in medical library field and was to be awarded every two years, or when a truly worthy candidate was submitted. In 2014, the Faculty began giving a bouquet of flowers to the winner of the award in Marcia's name, and in honor of her work. Much evidence exists for this tradition, as we know that the physicians, especially Drs. Osler and Ruhräh, frequently gave her bouquets of flowers. Marcia also cultivated flower gardens at the Faculty and decorated the rooms with her work.

Today, the MedChi building is open for tours and if the rumors are to be believed Ms. Marcia Crocker Noyes is still at work in her beloved library as the "resident ghost" [1][5]

NOTE: This article has been modified from the original Wikipedia article on Marcia Crocker Noyes. The article itself is well-written with interesting images of the subject. I would encourage you to visit it. The second insert is from book 00736 in my personal library and shows in pencil, the incredibly small handwriting of Marsha C. Noyes.

Sources:
1. "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" MedChi Archives blog.
2. "Marcia C. Noyes, Medical Librarian" (PDF). Bulletin of the Medical Library Association. 35 (1): 108–109. 1947. PMC 194645
3. Smith, Bernie Todd (1974). "Marcia Crocker Noyes, Medical Librarian: The Shaping of a Career" (PDF). Bulletin of the Medical Library Association. 62 (3): 314–324. PMC 198800Freely accessible. PMID 4619344.
4. Edward Caledon BRUCE (1825-1901)"
5. Behind the scenes tour MedChiBuilding

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By Maurits Biesbrouck, MD. Continued from "Andreas Vesalius’s fatal voyage to Jerusalem (4)".

For the first page of this article, click here.

The story by Solenander

An interesting story, told by Reiner Solenander (1524-1601), deserves our attention here (12). His report is important, but it was hard to find, because it is included in a work of Thomas Theodor Crusius, namely his Vergnügung müssiger Stunden, from 1722. Dr. Theodoor Goddeeris found a copy of this in the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel (Germany). In it, the story can be found of Vesalius’s end according to Solenander, written in Augsburg, and dated May 1566. This means: one year and seven months after Vesalius’ death. I only translate the most important elements:

Title page of the Reis-Beschreibung by
Christoph Fürer von Haimendorf (1646)

“…, they returned to the ship. Initially, owing to stormy weather, they were driven off course, and when they had been driven into the open sea, the air became so peaceful, that the ship drifted around for several weeks, in virtually the same place. It was high summer and baking hot. Then most of the passengers fell ill, and many died. When he saw them being thrown into the sea, for several days in succession, Vesalius became dispirited, and began to suffer from sickness himself, but did not say anything about it. …, the provisions began to run out. There was a general shortage and a severe lack of drinking water. A daily ration was given to each, and not a drop more than was deemed necessary. Having ended up in this desperate situation, Vesalius, who was taciturn by nature, melancholy, and not provided for such an eventuality, received no care, as the necessary provisions had by now run out, and he started to become more seriously ill. … After they had been drifting around for a long time, the wind finally began to pick up, and they were able to sail on, with a favourable wind. In the meantime, Vesalius lay sick in the hold…. When land was sighted, everyone became frenzied, but he became even more seriously ill. Only then did the travellers arrive at Zakynthos, they called to him, and when they entered the port and struck sail, Vesalius expired, amid the creaking of the ropes and the noise of camels. But he obtained what he had most desired, namely that he should be carried ashore, and buried on land, at a chapel or shrine, near the port of Zakynthos"(13).

Vesalius’s burial place

This is how Vesalius died most probably: from illness and deprivation. But the question of his eventual burial place also arises. Numerous researchers have tried hard to gain clear information on this subject. The first person to see the grave with his own eyes was Christoph Fürer von Haimendorf (1541-1610), who in his Itinerarium (1621) states that he stopped off on Zakynthos and saw Vesalius’ grave. It is the German version of Fürer’s account of his journey, that contains the most details about Vesalius’ burial place. Not the Latin one, that appeared 25 years earlier (14).

Fürer himself, set out on a journey in July 1565, also from Venice, and headed first for Alexandria in Egypt. They sailed past Corfu, and on the 6th of August they disembarked on Zakynthos, a good seven months after Vesalius' death. He writes: “On this island there is a closter named S. Maria della Gratia, where Vesalius has been buried.” Fürer gives also a description of Vesalius’s epitaph here, because he continues: “In a grave with an epitaph carrying his coat of arms with three whippets on a shield in red, a yellow eagle, with two crowned heads, and the inscription: Tomb of Andreas Vesalius from Brussels, who died in the year 1564 on the 10th of October, on his way back from Jerusalem, at the age of 58...” This should of course be “the 15th of October” instead of the 10th, and “at the age of 50” instead of “58”. The date must be a typographical error, because his Latin text has indeed “the 15th of October”, and his abbreviation “ID” for the ides can easily be misread as a ‘ten’. Also, the description of the coat of arms is incorrect: as everyone knows, there were no whippets on it but weasels.

Solenander gives the epitaph also. According to him it reads: “Tomb of Andreas Vesalius from Brussels, who died October the 15th, 1564, on his way back from Jerusalem, at the age of 58...” Here again, the age is wrong, as Vesalius was born on the 31st of December 1514: thus he was ten weeks short of 50. As both Fürer and Solenander had the wrong age for Vesalius, this points to the fact that the epitaph might have been wrong, and not their reports.

Jean Zuallart, another Jerusalem traveller, writes that Zakynthos is an island which is highly susceptible to earthquakes, and he also mentions the grave in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. He saw the tomb in 1586, and tells that Vesalius was buried, on the same spot as Marcus Tullius Cicero, the famous roman writer. According to Zuallart in 1586, that is twenty-two years after Vesalius’ death, he reported that the copper memorial plaque had disappeared, having been stolen by the Turks when they plundered the island in 1571.

Pavlos Plessas was the first one to point, some years ago, to a third eye-witness of Vesalius’s grave (15). He found proof of this in an Italian translation of the worldatlas by Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. That translation was made by Filippo Pigafetta, member of an italian family of nobility from Vicenza, who added several personal experiences to the text, such as his own visit to Zakynthos. To Ortelius’s text on the Ionian Islands, accompanying Map 217, he adds in the section devoted to Zakynthos: (continued)...

Article continued here: Andreas Vesalius’s fatal voyage to Jerusalem (6).

Sources and author's comments:
12. Maurits BIESBROUCK, Theodoor GODDEERIS, Omer STEENO. ‘Reiner Solenander (1524-1601): an important 16th Century Medical Practioner and his Original Report of Vesalius’ Death in 1564 - Reiner Solenander (1524.-1601.): značajan medicinski praktičar iz 16. stoljeća i njegov izvorni izvještaj o Vezalovoj smrti 1564. godine’ in Acta medico-historica Adriatica, 2015, 13 (no. 2): 265-286, ill.
13. Reiner SOLENANDER. ‘Kurze Nachricht von des Andreae Vesalii Todt und Begräbnisz - Historia de Obitu Andreae Vesalii ex Literis Reineri Solenandri ex Comitiis August. 1566. Mense Majo’ in Thomas Theodor CRUSIUS, Vergnügung müssiger Stunden, oder allerhand nützliche zur heutigen galanten Gelehrsamkeit dienende Anmerckungen, M. Rohrlachs Wittib und Erben, 1722, pp. 483-490. The ‘work’ Vergnügung müssiger Stunden was in fact a journal that was published by Theodor Crusius in Leipzig for 20 years from 1713 to 1732; Solenander’s contribution about Vesalius’ death appeared in volume 18, 1722.
14. Christoph FÜRER VON HAIMENDORF, Reis-Beschreibung in Egypten, Arabien, Palästinam, Syrien, etc.: M. beygef. Landtafel u. ders. Erkl. Sambt Kurtzem Anh. Jacob Fürers von Haimendorff, s. Brüders, Constantinopolitanischer Reise, Nürnberg: Endter, 1646, 384 pp.
15. Pavlos [PLESSAS], ‘The tomb of Vesalius and Filippo Pigafetta’s testimony’ in Pampalaia Zakunthinès, April 3th, 2013, 4 pp., ill.; see <http://pampalaia.blogspot.com>.

Andreas Vesalius’ fatal voyage to Jerusalem (5)

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