Retired Cardiologist Florentino Pina, M.D., Donates 57 Volumes of Classics of Medicine to MMS-BML Branch Library

Isaac Newton once said that he had seen farther than others because he stood on the shoulders of giants. Now many of the giants on whom the foundation of modern medicine rests reside in the MMS-BML Branch Library in Waltham.

This fall the library received 57 volumes of the Classics of Medicine Library published by Gryphon Editions, Ltd. These attractive volumes were the generous gift of Florentino P. Pina, M.D., a retired cardiologist, formerly of Weston, who now resides in Florida.

Spanning Centuries
Each volume is a facsimile printing, bound in leather with marble endpapers that were designed by Richard Wolfe, former rare book librarian of the Countway Library.

Included in the collection are the Collected Essays of William Osler, Thomas Percival on Medical Ethics, Jenner’s The Cause and Effects of Variolae Vaccinae, Ramazzini’s seminal work on Diseases of Workers, Morgagni’s three volumes on The Seats and Causes of Disease, Kraepelin’s Lectures on Clinical Psychiatry, and Semmelweis’s The Etiology of Childbed Fever. Complete list of titles

There are many volumes in this collection spanning centuries in recording the history of medicine.

Now Offering 72 Volumes
Anyone interested in the history of medicine and its primary sources can visit the library and make use of these books. With Dr. Pina’s gift, the library now has 72 volumes of the Classics of Medicine. Other donors of books in this series include Adam G.N. Moore, M.D., who is a trustee of the Boston Medical Library.

The Branch Library is open from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Fridays. Reference services are available from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The librarian, Elizabeth Fitzpayne, can be contacted at (781) 434-7691 or efitzpayne@mms.org.

- Jeffrey M. Kichen