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Rare Book Collection:

Named Collections

Irving Cutter, MD, dean of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine from 1915 to 1925, began the rare book and history of medicine collections for McGoogan Library in the 1920s. According to the 1924 Caduceus yearbook, most of the historical books in the collection at the medical library were originally gifts to the College of Medicine or purchased from other medical libraries across Nebraska. Dean Cutter himself went on a rare book-buying adventure in Europe and returned with over 3,000 English and French journals. Multiple physicians also donated to the library’s collection. Below are some of McGoogan Library’s largest contributors to the rare book collection.

LeRoy Crummer, MD, c. 1929

From the McGoogan Health Sciences Library Special Collections and Archives

LeRoy Crummer, MD (1872-1934)

LeRoy Crummer, MD, was a respected cardiologist with a private practice in Omaha. He was also a professor at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine from 1908 to 1930. During World War I, Dr. Crummer served in the Army Medical Corps as a special inspector directly under the surgeon general.  

After the war, Dr. Crummer became an avid book collector. He expounded on the description of his study of book and auction catalogs as a “daily habit.” Familiar with the best-known booksellers and collectors across the United States and Europe, he had a remarkable understanding and knowledge for not only his own collection, but for many areas of the medical bibliographic record. Dr. Crummer traveled frequently to New York and London to purchase rare books. He especially liked Maggs in London, where he said many of his greatest treasures came from. He embraced book collecting as a way of life and the key social interactions that went along with it, including rich conversation, food, and smoking cigarettes. While Dr. Crummer never returned to Germany after the war, he kept his connections open and acquired many books from German dealers. His acquisitions formed the foundation of what is now McGoogan Library’s rare book collection.

 

 

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Charles F. Moon, MD

From the McGoogan Health Sciences Library Special Collections and Archives

Charles F. Moon, MD (1890-1970)

Charles F. Moon, MD, was a 1914 graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine and a faculty member of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1925 to 1956. He served as the chair of the Clarkson Hospital Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1956 to 1960.  

Dr. Moon started book collecting under the tutelage of LeRoy Crummer, MD, who had given him a vellum-bound book purchased in Rome by the 16th century French physician and obstetrician Severin Pineau. A duplicate of a book that Crummer had in his own catalog, it included Crummer’s bookplate, and so inspired Moon that he, too, became a life-long lover of historical medical texts. Dr. Moon became a devoted rare book collector, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. In 1955, he donated his collection to the University of Nebraska College of Medicine Library (McGoogan Library).

 

 

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Robert Moes, MD, c. 1970

From the McGoogan Health Sciences Library Special Collections and Archives

Robert Moes, MD (1905-1988)

Robert Moes, MD, was a 1929 graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine. He spent his career in private surgical practice in California. Dr. Moes had an interest in the history of medicine and was a member of the Osler Society, an organization comprised of physicians and medical historians dedicated to keeping Sir William Osler’s memory alive. He was also a member of the American Association for the History of Medicine and lectured in the history of medicine at the University of California Los Angeles from 1950 to 1975. Dr. Moes amassed a large collection of rare books, many of which he donated to McGoogan Library. 

 

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Leon S. McGoogan, MD, c. 1970

From the McGoogan Health Sciences Library Special Collections and Archives

Leon S. McGoogan, MD (1900-1993)

Leon S. McGoogan, MD, had an obstetrics and gynecology private practice in Omaha and was a faculty member at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He served as chair of the department from 1950 to 1955 and 1961 to 1962. Dr. McGoogan was instrumental in acquiring the matching funds for the construction of the Library of Medicine at UNMC, raising $385,000 towards the construction and endowment of the new facility. The library was renamed in his honor in 1978. Dr. McGoogan was a passionate rare-book collector, with a focus on obstetrics and gynecology. He donated many books during his lifetime and the remainder of his collection was bequeathed to the library after his death in 1993. 

 

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