University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

The William H. Helfand collection of medical quackery ephemera contains prints that address the public perception of physicians and the practice of medicine across three centuries (1736-2006, with undated materials). A large number of cartoons from nineteenth century French satirical newspapers reveal that medical practices and symbols were used to visually express political sentiments. In this collection, medicine also emerges as a theme in imagerie populaire, inexpensive block prints mass-produced during the same period. Other aspects and eras of medicine are represented in the collection’s portraits, advertisements, devotional images and artwork.