University of Virginia Medical Illustrations collection

The University of Virginia has taught the study of human anatomy as part of the medical curriculum since its first session in 1825.

The creator of several of the drawings in the collection, Harvey E. Jordan (1878-1963), was on the faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia between 1907 and 1949 and had a strong interest in anatomy throughout his career. Jordan served as a Professor of Histology and Embryology, Director of Anatomical Laboratories, and, from 1938 to 1949, as the Dean of the Department of Medicine (in 1950 the title changed to “Dean of the School of Medicine”). During his tenure as Dean, Jordan started a Division of Medical Illustration at the Univeristy. Among the many professional societies to which he belonged was the American Association of Anatomists, and throughout his career he wrote many papers on the subject of microscopic anatomy.

In addition to Harvey E. Jordan, the collection also contains work by illustrators including P. Le Paumier, Helen Lorraine, and Ted Bloodhart. P. Le Paumier (dates unknown) was a French illustrator whose work was published in the book Travaux pratiques d'anatomie. Cahier d'ostéologie, by French anatomist André Latarjet (1877-1947). Helen Lorraine (1892-1980) was a medical illustrator who graduated from Johns Hopkins School of Art as Applied to Medicine (1916) and studied under Max Brodel and J. Shelton Horsley. Lorraine's illustrations were produced for Dr. Charles Bruce Morton (1908-1966), a University of Virginia School of Medicine graduate (B.S. 1920, M.D. 1922) and professor of Surgery and Gynecology at UVA from 1927 to 1954. Little is known about the other illustrators. Some works in the collection are not identified.

Another set of prints included in this collection are the Elizabeth Mandell historical prints collection, which consists of prints, illustrations, and pages from an unidentified text. Items include 3 anatomical plates; 3 surgical plates; and a print of a physician and patient from the Illustrated Times, London Dec. 8, 1880. Also included: an image of a doctor and patients from an “extra supplement to the Illustrated London News, May 19, 187?”; and illustrations from the International Medical and Sanitary Exposition. The 4 loose pages contain an entry on Anatomy and are taken from the same text as the anatomical and surgical plates (possibly an encyclopedia).

In 2026, the English and French caricatures were added to the collection.