(Contributed by Dr. William Jensen, Curator of the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry)

As the global reputation of the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry continues to grow, these special collections are attracting the attention of more and more international scholars.

Starting in January 2013, Professor José Chamizo of the University of Mexico spent three months of his sabbatical  working in the collections and  returned once more in  June for another two weeks. While at Cincinnati his research focused on the role of instrumentation in initiating chemical revolutions and on the life and work of the 19th-century Mexican chemist, José Ortigiosa.

Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript

Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript

In late June, the Oesper collections were also visited by Dr. Eberhard Slenczka, former Director of Libraries for the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremburg, who came to examine our facsimile of the 16th century alchemical manuscript known as the Splendor Solis in order to make comparisons with the copies found in Nuremburg, Paris, London and Spain.

Please direct questions regarding access and use of the Oesper collections to  Professor William B. Jensen or Ted Baldwin, Director of Science and Engineering Libraries.