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Title:
Sydell Herbst and Christopher Gian-Cursio Collection
Quantity:
5,000 books, 80 naturopathic and medical journals in several hundred issues; 1500 pamphlets, correspondence, and medical files.
Material Types

Books, Business Records, Journals, Letters, Pamphlets

Christopher Gian-Cursio was a naturopathic doctor, nutritionist, author, editor, and researcher. The collection reflects Gian-Cursio’s professional career as a practicing Natural Hygienist and his extensive research into the development and pioneers of the health movement in America, especially James Jackson’s “Our Home on the Hillside” Hygienic Institute in Dansville, N.Y. Also included in the collection are a substantial number of clippings on a broad variety of health-related subjects such as food and nutrition, cancer, chiropractic care, fasting, sexual health, a small assortment of newspapers from the middle-to-late 1800s, and correspondence with other leading figures of the Natural Hygiene movement, including Jesse Mercer Gehman and Herbert Shelton.  The Gian-Cursio Collection exists today thanks to the efforts of his long-time assistant and companion, Sydell Herbst.  The Gian-Cursio Collection also includes an extensive complement of books, which are cataloged into the UT Libraries catalog.