This is an advertisement found in the Drug Price Lists & Circulars collection at the Lloyd. Note, the "la grippe" bug depicted has something that looks like cricket legs and an eye. Today, we would know this ailment as the common "flu" - and it looks nothing like this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza - nice picture of it here, actually. The ad was from the Antikamnia Chemical Co. of St. Louis - the name means "anti pain" and they sold some heroin products, and all manner of pain-ending concoctions, per their name. This is just a sample from this collection of hundreds of drug price lists and circulars from just about every company you can think of from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Lloyd Library gets a genuine Lloyd Cold Still for its Museum

Today - the library is finally in possession of a specimen of one of John Uri Lloyd's inventions, the Cold Still. It arrived this morning, November 17, 2011, at 9:30 am. With some maneuvering (see photo at left of it coming off the truck), it made it through the door. We're all excited that we finally own one of these gems of pharmaceutical history and will have more than a picture of it to show in the museum. We are in the planning stages for creating a History of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Exhibit and are really happy that the Cold Still will be part of it!

"An Evening with Alfred Russel Wallace"

Please join us on November 30, 2011, 7-9 p.m. at the Lloyd Library as we welcome Michael A. Flannery, former Lloyd Director and now Professor and Associate Director for Historical Collections at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, as he introduces us to his new book, Alfred Russel Wallace: A Rediscovered Life.
Included will be a brief introduction to this famous Victorian naturalist's life and work and a screening of the 20-minute documentary, "Darwin's Heretic: How the Co-Founder of Evolution Embraced Intelligent Design." A book-signing of Professor Flannery's recent biography, Alfred Russel Wallace: A Rediscovered Life, and dessert and coffee reception will follow.
This book, along with Alfred Russel Wallace’s Theory of Intelligent Evolution, will be available for sale for only $10 each - cash or check only, please.

Synopsis of Alfred Russel Wallace: A Rediscovered Life
Michael A. Flannery's latest volume explores the life and contributions of Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace, a co-discoverer of the theory of evolution, was in his lifetime, and for most of the following century, overshadowed by the figure of Charles Darwin. Wallace, though equally brilliant, lived in obscurity, at least in the minds of scientists and the popular culture, who all lauded Darwin and his work. Flannery is part of a recent movement to reawaken Wallace's own significant legacy and place it where it belongs, at the forefront of scientific growth and theory in the 19th century and beyond. Flannery's particular take on Wallace and evolution focuses on what Flannery considers Wallace's adherence to a theory of evolution dependent on Intelligent Design. This can be a controversial stance, but one which Flannery has researched and stands by in a collegial, yet firm, way.
Don't miss your chance to hear this interesting lecture and presentation at the Lloyd Library and Museum!

‎"This presentation does not necessarily reflect the views of the Lloyd or its staff members."

From the Lloyd Archives - March 15, 1920

Lloyd's Assistant Archivist found the following letter in the archives of Curtis G. Lloyd, one of the Library's founders. While this infraction he recounts by two local boys hardly seems so severe by today's standards, and his proposed course of action extreme, we all couldn't help but chuckle a little at the thought of it all. By this time, Curtis Lloyd was a little over 60 and suffering from diabetes, and so this might actually have been more annoying to him at this point in his life than it would otherwise have been. From 1920:
"Dear madam:

You have two very bad boys. For the past two or three weeks every time they pass my house on their way from school they stop and ring the bell and then run. I caught one of them last Friday and took his cap for I wanted to have him identified, supposing he was one of the Childrens' Home boys. After I had taken the cap, it being a muddy day, he went out into the street and plastered the front of my house with mud. I took the cap to Mr. Crouse, knowing he would correct it if it was one of the Childrens' Home boys, and while none of the children came home without a cap the children of the Home knew the boy to whom the cap belonged and said it was one of your boys. Today in passing the house they indulged in their favorite pasttime.

I beg to advise you that unless you take steps to relieve me of this annoyance I shall apply to the Juvenile Court and endeavor to have them sent to the House of Correction as incorrigibles.
Yours truly,
C. G. Lloyd"

The Making of a Botanist: Joseph Dalton Hooker, 1817-1911

Brand New Exhibit opening at the Lloyd Library and Museum!

This is the centenary celebration year of the death of Joseph Dalton Hooker, famed 19th century botanist and explorer of India and the Himalayas, son of William Jackson Hooker (another great botanist), friend and confidant of Charles Darwin, and Director of Kew Gardens in London. His contributions to botany are immense, especially in the area of rhododendron and orchid research, but in other areas as well. Find out, through the holdings of the Lloyd Library and Museum, what it takes to make a great botanist.

Exhibit Opening on October 8, 2011, 4-7 p.m., features a lecture by noted author and professor, Gene Kritsky, who will speak on the relationship between Charles Darwin and J. D. Hooker. Lecture starts at 4:30 p.m. followed by a reception.

Concurrent art exhibit by local and regional artists will feature works on the subjects of India, the Himalayas, and the Asian region.

PLUS - SAVE THE DATE! November 30, 2011, 7-9 p.m. Micahel A. Flannery, Associate Director of Historic Collections, University of Alabama, Birmingham, will deliver a presention, show a brief film, and answer questions about his new book, Alfred Russel Wallace: A Rediscovered Life

Exhibit Dates: October 8 - December 30, 2011

The Magic and Myth of Alchemy

Check out the Lloyd's latest online exhibit, "The Magic and Myth of Alchemy." Did you know that this year, 2011, was the International Year of Chemistry? In celebration of that fact, the Lloyd Library is showcasing its many and historic volumes on alchemy, the intellectual and scientific precursor to chemistry. Alchemy laid the foundations for chemistry, establishing laboratory procedures and creating a great deal of laboratory equipment that is today still in use, in some form.

Tthe Lloyd holds books from the 16th through 20th centuries on alchemy and a wealth of resources on chemistry. Don't miss your chance to learn about this mythical science, where it got its start, and why it is still appealing today!

World Travelers: 3 Men, 3 Visions, 3 Centuries April 23 - July 29, 2011

This newest exhibit at the Lloyd Library and Museum was inspired by the joie de vivre of one of the Lloyd's dearest patrons and friends, Pierre Rene Sotteau (1925-2010). Sotteau, Professor Emeritus of Miami University (OH), French Department, was a long-time user of the Lloyd's resources, helped with exhibits, research and more. In his last years, he was researching Curtis Gates Lloyd, one of the Library's founders. The two men shared a love of travel, and Sotteau had been busily tracking down Lloyd's travels around the world. A curious connection to Lloyd, through Sotteau, was revealed in the person of photographer, Joel Quimby, an acquaintance of Pierre's. Quimby's photographs of Madagascar from a recent trip are remarkably similar to Lloyd's photographs of the Caribbean islands over 100 years ago. Pierre Sotteau connected Lloyd and Quimby in a way he perhaps never imagined. Now, the travels of all three men will be on exhibit at the Lloyd - book and memorabilia exhibit highlights some of Sotteau's favorite travel destinations, while the art gallery holds selections of Quimby's and Lloyd's travel photographs.
Don't miss this opportunity!