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[Identification of item], Hans Horst Meyer Photographs and Memorabilia, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
The Hans Horst Meyer Photographs and Memorabilia were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a gift in 1998 and as a transfer in 2011.
Processed by Willeke Sandler, April 2012
Encoded by Willeke Sandler, April 2012
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Hans Horst Meyer holds a prominent place at the historical intersection of pharmacology and anesthesia. His greatest achievement was in the formulation of the lipoid theory of narcosis which still stands today largely unchallenged. Published in 1899, Meyer's classic paper proposed that the ability of a substance to produce narcosis or anesthesia is governed by its partition coefficient. He shares the honor as the cofounder of this theory with Charles Overton who independently arrived at the same conclusion at the same time although indirectly through a study of permeability of plant and animal cells to various substances. The Meyer-Overton theory stimulated decades of research to answer important questions of exactly how certain drugs can act to produce a state of anesthesia. [Taken from
Meyer was born in Insterburg, East Prussia, and studied medicine in Königsberg, Leipzig, and Berlin. He held the chair of pharmacology at the University of Marburg from 1884 to 1904, and was then professor at the Vienna Medical School from 1904 to 1924, when he retired. Meyer died in Vienna in 1938.
Meyer had three sons, Kurt Heinrich, Arthur Woldemar, and Friedrich Horst. Arthur Meyer's son, J. Horst Meyer, was a professor of physics at Duke University from 1959 to 2004.
The Hans Horst Meyer Photographs and Memorabilia collection contains diplomas, honors, medals, and awards received by Meyer between 1901 and 1937; a series of photographs of Meyer, his family members, and Harvey Cushing; and an autograph book with signatures and correspondence of notable individuals. The certificates and medals come from a variety of international scientific organizations, such as the New York Academy of Medicine, the Royal Society of Physicians in Budapest, and the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences. Meyer also received the German Order of the Red Eagle and honorary citizenship of the city of Vienna. Also included are some correspondence and printed material relating to the honors received by Meyer, as well as a reprint of Meyer's chapter in the
The scrapbook contains 147 autographs and letters of well-known and lesser-known Germans, most of whom lived in the 19th century. Included are a letter each from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, and Clara Schumann, a postcard from Johannes Brahms, and the autographs of many individuals, including, Henrik Ibsen and Charles Dickens.
With the exception of the scrapbook, which was originally in the holdings of the Rubenstein Library general collections, the materials were acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collections at Duke University.
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
Black-and-white photographs of Meyer in Vienna and Berlin and of Meyer's family and colleagues, including two signed photographs of Harvey Cushing. Also includes a photograph of the presentation of a portrait of Meyer to Duke University by his grandson, J. Horst Meyer, circa 2004. Arranged in chronological order.
Diplomas, certificates, and medals conferring honorary membership and other honors on Meyer from a variety of international scientific organizations and institutes. Completing the series is an autographs scrapbook containing 147 autographs and letters of well-known and lesser-known Germans, most of whom lived in the 19th century. Included are a letter each from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, and Clara Schumann, a postcard from Johannes Brahms, and the autographs of many individuals, including, Henrik Ibsen and Charles Dickens.
Handle with care.
Correspondence and printed material relating to the honors received by Meyer, as well as a reprint of Meyer's chapter in the