In
1969 Mrs. Edward Carofano donated two 16th-century Venetian
majolica jars to St. John's University. Several years later 49
books followed on apothecary pottery and on history of
pharmacology, works that reflect the Carofanos' special collecting
interests. The oldest European book in the group is the 1557 Greek
and Latin edition of Theriaca and
Alexipharmaca. Americana in this field is
represented by a hand-colored copy of Samuel Henry's A
New and Complete American Medical Family Herbal,
1814.
The entire collection of some 400 majolica jars and
pharmacy-related artifacts came to SJU in March 1987.