08/19/2026
ZOOM simulcast meeting (for those not able to attend in-person) at Pizza Ranch (located at 171 Hwy 1 W. in I.C.) with Damien Ihrig, MA, MLIS, Curator of John Martin Rare Book Room & Collection Management of Hardin Library for the Health Sciences , who spoke in-person about The John Martin Rare Book Room: A History of Medicine Collection. He gave us the history of John Martin, M.D. (1904-1996)and how he began to be a rare medical book collector at the end of WWII. Martin was a neurosurgeon serving in the US Army and came across his first book in Europe. By the time he retired he had accumulated 1,5050 rare books that he offered to NW University, but they rejected his donation. He had moved to be with relatives in Clarinda IA and became an Adjunct Professor in the UI College of Medicine, so it was logical that his next offer of his collection was to the newly planned Hardin Library for Health Sciences at UI. He also donated funds to The John Martin Rare Book Room to install fire prevention, improved air quality and an endowment for a curator. By the time of his death the collection had grown to 3,000 books and now is about 6,500 books. The oldest book is from 1470 A.D. Books can be rare based upon their subject matter, scarcity, medical subject matter importance, typeface, illustrations and condition.
