The Alfred Taubman Medical Library Rare Book Room serves as a resource for scholars in the history of medicine. It contains early medical works of scholarly significance, pre-1850 original research, and medical classics. Subject coverage is broad with concentrations in early anatomy, surgery, pharmacy, obstetrics and gynecology, American medical literature from the early 1800s, Dance of Death, lead poisoning, homeopathy, cardiology, pathology, and hernia repair. In mid- to late 2008 the rare collections of the Public Health and Dentistry libraries will be incorporated into the Taubman Rare Book Room. The print collections are almost all cataloged and represented in the University of Michigan's online catalog Mirlyn (see Web address above).

With titles dating from 1470 to the early 20th century, the collections consist of approximately 6,300 monographs (primarily pre-1822 imprints), a small collection of journals, 82 incunabula, medical fugitive sheets, medical cartoons, portraits, manuscripts, letters, illustrations, and a collection of 52 medical magic amulets. In addition, an extensive homeopathy collection, including the Bradford Collection of 1,027 pamphlets and the contents of the former University of Michigan Homeopathic Library, are shelved off-site. The collection has grown primarily by gift, with the largest donations coming from the libraries of Le Roy Crummer, M.D., Lewis Stephen Pilcher, M. D., Aldred Scott Warthin, M.D., and George E. Wantz, M.D. SERVICES: Items in the collection are available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.