Frank H. Netter (1906-1991) was a white artist and physician whose illustrations depicted many medical conditions, treatments and anatomy of the human body. Before Netter studied medicine and became a physician he studied art and had established himself as a commercial artist early in his career. After completing medical school he set up his medical practice but was unable to make a living as a physician because of the Great Depression. It was at this time that he began making medical illustrations for various pharmaceutical companies. His pictures appeared in medical advertisements, pamphlets and books. His relationship with Ciba Pharmaceutical Company (later called CIBA-GEIGY Corporation and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation) encompassed most of his career and resulted in the publication of many anatomy books. The best known of these is the eight volume set titled the Ciba Collection of Medical Illustrations or the "green books." The first volume of this collection was published in 1953 and the last volume was published posthumously in 1993. This collection is now known as the Netter Collection of Medical Illustrations. Frank H. Netter completed the 'Atlas of Human Anatomy' in 1989 and a large number of his illustrations were used in Clinical Symposia which was a publication of Ciba. This collection contains correspondence, research materials, slides, sketches and prints. The correspondence consists of letters between Netter and his editor regarding the work he did for Ciba Pharmaceutical Company and the CIBA-GEIGY Corporation and between Netter and the doctors he consulted while researching the different medical conditions or procedures he was working on at the time. The research materials consist of photographs, journal articles, manuscripts and x-rays. The slides are of the pictures that were included in the Ciba Collection of Medical Illustrations, Atlas of Human Anatomy and Clinical Symposia. This collection also contains more than 700 of his original sketches that cover all aspects of human anatomy, medical conditions and procedures. There is also a series of 12 matted prints entitled "Life of a Doctor"
