View of one of the two old pharmacies
Czech born pharmacist Buhuslav Lavicka (1879 – 1942) enriched Slovenian culture with his exceptional pharmaceutical collection. His decades of association with the largest European antique stores, produced an almost complete assortment of pharmaceutical and medical items and books.
His library of over four hundred books is representative of almost all the essential publications, not only from the medical and natural sciences, but also from humanistic and philosophic fields. Along with the many incunabula, two pages from the Gutenberg Bible deserve special attention and bear witness to Lavicka’s success as a collector.
Bible, incunabulum, printed in 1491 in Basle, Switzerland. The Bible includes some of the first written hygienic codes, and as such is also a medical document.
The archeological section of the collection includes prehistoric and antique surgical tools, as well as ceramic and other vessels from the period between the 15th and the 19th century. The collection contains some very valuable examples of vessels. The vessels are displayed in furnishings acquired from two old pharmacies. Especially notable is the pharmaceutical armoire, which is believed to have come from a Tyrolean convent pharmacy and contains “medicinal substances” preserved from the sixteenth century.
The basic design and format of Lavicka’s collection demonstrates vast knowledge, while the richness of the collected materials is proof yet again, that Slovenian intellectual life, especially in its scientific tradition, has always been part of the European culture.
Lek bought the collection from Mr. Lavicka descendants, and in 1986 first publicly displayed the works in a museum format in Lek’s headquarters.
