RELEASE OF THE COMPREHENSIVE CATALOG OF THE HISTORY OF PHARMACY COLLECTION
Friday, November 17, 2023
Now 15.00
MNIT lecture hall, Constantin Daicoviciu no. 2, et. 1.
We invite you to the launch of the 7 volumes of the catalog of the History of Pharmacy Collection, printed in English, the main result of the exploratory research project "PHARMATRANS. Pharmacies of the 2021th-2023th centuries in Transylvania. The Pharmacy History Collection from Cluj-Napoca", implemented by MNIT with funding from the Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation in the period 4-2020 (project code PN-III-P1562-ID-PCE- XNUMX-XNUMX). The project was coordinated by Dr. Ana-Maria Gruia, collection manager and curator of the Pharmacy Museum.
Most of the authors and collaborators, as well as the Mega Publishing House, participate in the launch.
Catalog title: "All Things Apothecary in 16th-20th-century Transylvania. The History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca" Vol. 1. Overviews and case studies;
Vol. 2. Wooden containers;
Vol. 3. Pottery and metal containers;
Vol. 4. Glass Containers;
Vol. 5. Manuscripts;
Vol. 6. Books;
Vol. 7. Varia pharmaceutical.
Authors: Dr. Ana-Maria Gruia, Ph.D. Ioana Cova, Dr. Mária Pakucs, Dr. Ioana Savu-Gruita, Dr. Márta Guttmann, Dr. Andrea Beatrix Magó, Dr. Ágnes Găzdac-Alföldy, Dr. Zsolt Csók, Dr. Robert Offner, Dr. Melinda Mitu, Dr. Oana Habor.
Photos: Dr. Alexandru Rădulescu.
After the launch, the catalog will be available for free, in electronic format, on the project website: https://pharmatrans.mnit.ro/
The first volume is an introductory one, presenting the project and the collection with its different categories of pieces, but also a series of studies on Cluj pharmacies, pharmacists Tobias Mauksch and Dr. György József Hintz, pharmaceutical education in Cluj, and a monetary hoard recently discovered in the basement of the Mauksch-Hintz house.
The second volume presents the wooden vessels in the collection, volume 3 the ceramic and metal ones, volume 4 is devoted to the glass vessels, volume 5 details the manuscripts and volume 6 the books, while the last volume is devoted to all the other goods cultural items from the Pharmacy Museum's heritage, from furniture to laboratory equipment, works of art, drugstore bottles from recent archaeological research, etc.
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The PHARMATRANS research project led not only to the publication of the present catalogue, one of the rare exhaustive catalogs of pharmaceutical collections in Europe, but also to the creation of a network of specialists (through museum visits and profile events), to the writing of nine articles in prestigious journals, to nine presentations at national and international conferences, to the restoration of more than 500 of the collection's goods and to the realization of a series of advanced investigations on the materials and especially the contents of the oldest and most interesting containers.
- Published in PAST EVENTS
PHARMATRANS
Exploratory research project
All Things Apothecary in 16th-20th-century Transylvania. The History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca. Pharmacies of the XVI-XX centuries in Transylvania. The Pharmacy History Collection from Cluj-Napoca
code PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-1562
Financed from the state budget, through UEFISCDI
Total amount of the contract: 1.192.842 lei
Running: 2021-2023
project director Dr. Gruia Ana-Maria
team: Dr. Maria Pakucs-Willcocks, Dr. Ioana Gruiță, Dr. Ioana Cova, Dr. Alexandru Rădulescu
collaborators: Dr. Márta Guttmann, Dr. Kovács Zsolt, Dr. Magó Andrea Beatrix, Cornelia Rotariu, Radu Cordoș, Tudor Tomescu
The general goal of the project is to create the first exhaustive catalog of the Pharmacy History Collection from Cluj-Napoca and distribute it to a wide range of specialists and the general public, internationally. The team is considering a catalog in six volumes, in English, published by an accredited publishing house in Romania. The catalog will also be available online, in pdf format, on the project website (in progress).
The project also aims at a number of intermediate/secondary objectives:
O1. Visiting representative European museums of the history of pharmacy to allow team members comparative documentation of current conservation, restoration and display strategies for such heritage assets, acquisition of other relevant collection catalogs and bibliographic works, and networking by specialists in the field.
O2. Cleaning, consolidation and restoration of artefacts in the collection that require such specialized interventions (approx. 500 heritage goods of various types).
O3. Obtaining new knowledge related to the artefacts in the collection, through the latest methods: microscopic investigations, micro-photographs and specialized chemical analyzes of samples of materia medica kept in some of the old containers.
O4. Transcription, translation and analysis of all the manuscripts in the collection, most of them unique.
O5. Research and presentation of the most important new discoveries regarding the history of Transylvanian pharmacy from the 3th century obtained on the basis of the research of the collection at international conferences and through at least XNUMX articles in prestigious journals (ISI/ErihPlus).
O6. Promotion of the project, its activities and results, through: an own website (Romanian-English), posts on social networks, book launch in 2023.
For more information, we invite you to the project page see the project website:
- Published in project
HISTORY OF PHARMACY
The collection is exhibited in the oldest pharmacy in Cluj, attested in the 1752th century. In the beginning, the pharmacy was a public one, controlled by the City Council. It was privatized in the 1802th century, its most famous owner being Tobias Maucksch (1949-XNUMX), privileged pharmacist of the city. It is remarkable that the pharmacy operated for centuries in the same location. In the XNUMXth century it became the property of the Hintz family, who owned it until nationalization in XNUMX.
At the origin of the collection is the donation of Transylvanian pharmaceutical objects by Professor Iuliu Orient (1869-1940), exhibited in 1904 in one of the halls of the Ardelean Museum, enriched over time by other valuable donations. The collection increased with the nationalization of pharmacies during the communist period, so that it now reflects the pharmaceutical activity in Transylvania between the 1954th and XNUMXth centuries. Professor Bologa founded in XNUMX the Museum of Pharmacy in Cluj, located in this old pharmacy of Cluj. Later, the Pharmacy Museum received the name Pharmacy History Collection, being subordinated to the National History Museum of Transylvania.
The collection includes about 2500 cultural goods from all over Transylvania, mostly pharmaceutical containers, but also glassware and laboratory equipment, books and documents and old medicines (materia medica). Another important batch of objects is the collection of medical equipment, donated by Professor Manea. The most important room is the old office, where medicines were sold and which preserves the painted parietal decorations from the 18th century. Hintz House has been restored, research has led to important discoveries related to the history of the building and the extension of the basement, the oldest area of the construction.
- Published in COLLECTIONS