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Early Medical and Dental Books From the Thomas Wiltberger Evans Collection

Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm

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August 19 - November 17, 2019
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Leon Levy Dental Medicine Library
Tab. VI from Philip Pfaff's "Abhandlung von den Zähnen des menschlichen Körpers und deren Krankheiten" (RK301 P53 1756)

This small exhibition exemplifies Thomas Wiltberger Evans’s book collecting in the conjoined early history of, first, general medicine and surgery and, second, his specific field, dentistry. For Evans, a noticeably successful and prominent dental practitioner in his era, book collecting seemed a gentleman’s avocation. This survey of the collection indicates that, vocationally and avocationally, Evans was both a smart dentist and a smart collector.

Thomas Wiltberger Evans Collection

Thomas W. Evans's (1823 – 1897) collection of rare works on the history of dentistry, his collection of Bibles and his surviving personal papers were included in Evans's bequest to the University of Pennsylvania and were to be housed in Evans' envisioned Dental Institute and Museum which opened in 1916.
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Featured Image: Tab. VI from Philip Pfaff's "Abhandlung von den Zähnen des menschlichen Körpers und deren Krankheiten" (RK301 P53 1756)