Charles Henry May Collection, 1883-1944

Biographical Note

Charles Henry May was a New York ophthalmologist. He received his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in 1883. He later studied in Europe, specializing in ophthalmology and otology. He was on the staff of many New York hospitals and clinics, and he founded the ophthalmological department at Bellevue Hospital in 1914 and served as its director until 1925. Additionally, he maintained a large private practice, developed ophthalmological instruments, and contributed to textbooks, reference works, and periodicals.

Source: Doherty, William Brown. "Dr. Charles H. May." Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc 42 (1944): 18.2-22. PubMedCentral.

Collection Description

Scope and Content

This small collection includes: May's 1883 thesis, "Statistics of 400 cases of rheumatism at Roosevelt Hospital," from the College of Physicians and Surgeons; an illustrated manuscript on the "Enuncleation with transplantation and reimplantation of eyes," detailing a history of the procedure and May's studies on rabbits; and 31 original illustrations by E. G. Bethke used in the "Manual of the diseases of the eye, for students and general practitioners."

The Archives and Special Collections of the Health Sciences library at Columbia University, New York also holds Charles Henry May materials; a finding aid for those papers may be consulted online at: http://library.cpmc.columbia.edu/hsl/archives/findingaids/may.html.

Administrative Info

Requests for permission to quote from or publish any materials should be directed to the reference librarian or curator in writing.

Preferred Citation

Charles Henry May Collection. The Drs. Barry and Bobbi Coller Rare Book Reading Room, New York Academy of Medicine Library.

Provenance

Items donated by Charles Perera.

Find Similar Resources

Search the online catalog for holdings of "Manual of the diseases of the eye, for students and general practitioners."

Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of The New York Academy of Medicine Library. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.