Ellis Medical and Historical Collection, 1851

Version: 7 (current) | Updated: 11/19/2025, 8:34:07 PM

Added description

Description

Ellis Medical and Historical Collection, 1851

Overview

The Ellis Medical and Historical Collection, 1851 is a digital archive assembled by the mid‑19th‑century photographer and author Ellis. It is held by Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is part of the PINAX repository. The collection is a single‑page medical manuscript dated 1851, rendered in English, and accompanied by high‑resolution images (both JPEG and TIFF). The material is catalogued under the subjects “Medical treatment,” “Disease,” “Health,” “Nutrition,” “Therapy,” “High Resolution Images,” “Historical Images,” and “19th Century Medicine.” No copyright restrictions are listed.

Background

Ellis’s work reflects early Victorian interests in preventive medicine and holistic health. The manuscript was digitised by Drexel University and made available through PINAX, a digital platform for historical medical documents. Although Drexel University was founded in 1891, the collection’s provenance is traced to the original 1851 compilation by Ellis, who is recorded as both author and photographer.

Contents

The collection contains: * Medical Treatment Content – a single‑page manuscript that discusses neuralgia, heart disease, liver disease, and other conditions. The text advocates ventilation, gentle outdoor exercise, cold or tepid baths, mild medicinal tonics, regular evacuations, a nourishing diet, and mental well‑being. * High‑Resolution Images – two TIFF files (a0721851ellis021.tif, 44 MB; a0721851ellis022.tif, 43 MB) and two JPEG files (a0721851ellis021.jpg, a0721851ellis022.jpg). The images capture the manuscript’s layout and handwriting, providing visual context for the textual recommendations.

Scope

The collection covers medical treatment practices of 1851, emphasizing disease prevention, nutrition, exercise, and mental health. It is limited to the single manuscript page and its associated images; it does not include clinical protocols, pharmacological data, or case studies. The material is geographically tied to Philadelphia and is intended for historical research and preservation of 19th‑century medical knowledge.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

**Extraction & Synthesis for the “Ellis Medical and Historical Collection, 1851”**

```cheimarros
# --- Collection definition (synthesised from PINAX metadata) ---
@ellis_collection_1851:concept {
    title: "Ellis Medical and Historical Collection, 1851",
    creator: @ellis,
    institution: @drexel_university,
    year: @date_1851,
    language: "en",
    description: "A collection containing medical treatment texts and high‑resolution images from the 1851 Ellis Collection, discussing various diseases, their treatments, and emphasizing the importance of a healthy diet, exercise, and mental well‑being.",
    subjects: ["Medical treatment","Disease","Health","Nutrition","Therapy","High Resolution Images","Historical Images","19th Century Medicine"]
}

# --- File‑level metadata (extracted from pinax.json) ---
@file_pinax -> describes -> @ellis_collection_1851:concept {
    source: "PINAX",
    access_url: "PLACEHOLDER"
}
@file_pinax -> part_of -> @ellis_collection_1851:concept

# --- Core components of the collection (already defined, now linked) ---
@medical_treatment_content:document -> part_of -> @ellis_collection_1851:concept
@ellis_collection_1851:concept -> includes -> @medical_treatment_content:document

@high_resolution_images:concept {
    description: "High‑resolution photographic images compiled by Ellis in 1851"
}
@ellis_collection_1851:concept -> includes -> @high_resolution_images:concept

# --- Images (already linked to the medical content; now also linked to the collection) ---
@file_a072_1851ellis_021_jpg -> part_of -> @ellis_collection_1851:concept
@file_a072_1851ellis_022_jpg -> part_of -> @ellis_collection_1851:concept
@file_a072_1851ellis_021_tif -> part_of -> @ellis_collection_1851:concept
@file_a072_1851ellis_022_tif -> part_of -> @ellis_collection_1851:concept

# --- Person & Institution roles (synthesis across subdirectories) ---
@ellis:person {full_name: "Ellis", role: "author & photographer", active_years: "mid‑19th century"}
@ellis -> authored -> @medical_treatment_content:document
@ellis -> photographed -> @high_resolution_images:concept

@drexel_university:organization {type: "University", location: @philadelphia}
@drexel_university -> holds -> @ellis_collection_1851:concept
@drexel_university -> created_by -> @file_pinax

@philadelphia:place {state: @pennsylvania, country: @united_states}
@philadelphia -> part_of -> @pennsylvania:place
@pennsylvania:place {country: @united_states}
```

### Synthesis Highlights
- **Unified Collection:** The `@ellis_collection_1851` concept now **integrates** the medical treatment document (`@medical_treatment_content`) and the high‑resolution image set (`@high_resolution_images`), reflecting the dual nature of the PINAX metadata.
- **Cross‑Subdirectory Links:** The same `@file_pinax` metadata file appears in both the *Medical_Treatment_Content* and *High_Resolution_Images* subdirectories, serving as the bridge that ties together textual and visual materials.
- **Multi‑role Individual:** `@ellis` is identified both as the **author** of the medical text and the **photographer** of the image collection, demonstrating a single contributor’s impact across distinct content types.
- **Institutional Custody:** `@drexel_university` is explicitly linked as the **holder** of the entire collection, grounding the archive within its academic context.

Metadata

Version History (7 versions)

  • ✓ v7 (current) · 11/19/2025, 8:34:07 PM
    "Added description"
  • v6 · 11/19/2025, 8:32:32 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v5 · 11/19/2025, 8:30:11 PM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v4 · 11/19/2025, 8:29:25 PM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 2 groups"
  • v3 · 11/19/2025, 8:29:24 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KAEWXG3KG754FKSSNRWGXCE4"
  • v2 · 11/19/2025, 8:29:23 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KAEWXEQ9ACBP20ADCFVFZK7V"
  • v1 · 11/19/2025, 8:28:28 PM · View this version
    "Alphabetical chunk 2/2 (4 files)"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

The files were grouped based on their content type and purpose. The JSON files containing OCR text related to medical treatment were grouped together due to their thematic similarity. The high-resolution TIFF image files were grouped separately as they serve a distinct archival purpose. No files were left ungrouped as all could be logically categorized based on their content or metadata.

## Groups Created

- **Medical_Treatment_Content**: Files containing text related to medical treatment advice, including symptoms, dietary recommendations, and general health practices.
- **High_Resolution_Images**: High-resolution TIFF image files, likely used for detailed archival or printing purposes.

Parent

01KAEWS5KPBBPQKY43XCWKM9Z3

Children (2)