WELCOME TO MISCELLANEA CURIOSA DIGITAL

The Miscellanea Curiosa Medico-Physica Academiae Naturae Curiosorum, which has been published by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina since 1670 (under various titles, currently Nova Acta Leopoldina), is the oldest medical-scientific journal in the world. From the very start, the contributions served the overarching purpose of the Academy, which is to gather together contemporary medical and scientific knowledge. The Miscellanea Curiosa have represented a unique source for the history of the natural sciences since the late 17th century. 

The entire body of work from the first approx. 100 years of publication comprises around 16,000 individual documents written in Latin and known as Observationes (“observations”), of which approximately 8,000 are reprints (partly with variations) and translations. The Miscellanea Curiosa are special in more than just one regard: In their journal form, they represent a kind of serialised encyclopaedia, in which the contributors successively draw on previous papers as well as the evolving state of medical-scientific knowledge. 

The digital collection itself is available online via the portal Journals@UrMEL of the Thuringian State and University Library Jena (ThULB).