Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Immediate Source of Acquisition
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
Biographical / Historical
Scope and Contents
Arrangement
Related Materials
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Elmer Belt collection of Vinciana graphic arts
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2366
Physical Description:
14 linear feet
Date (inclusive): circa 1510-19th century
Abstract: The Elmer Belt collection of Vinciana graphic arts is a special collection of original artwork, original printed lithographs,
and materials concerning Leonardo da Vinci and the Italian Renaissance. It was donated to UCLA in 1961 by Dr. Elmer Belt,
Professor Emeritus in the UCLA School of Medicine and a collector of Vinciana for more than sixty years.
Physical Location: Held at UCLA Library Special Collections. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. All requests to access
special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English, French, German, Italian, Latin, and Russian.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Dr. Elmer Belt, 1961.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Elmer Belt collection of Vinciana graphic arts (Collection 2366). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
Processed by UCLA Library Preservation and Conservation Department, 2020. Additional description by Kelly Besser and Tess
Livesley-O'Neill in 2020.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit
feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form
located on our website:
Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's Library Collections and Archives.
Biographical / Historical
Elmer Belt, M.D. (1893-1980), was a Los Angeles area urologist, bibliophile, and humanist who was instrumental in the founding
of the School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). An avid book collector, Dr. Belt became an expert
on Leonardo da Vinci and his time, amassing a large and important collection of books and other material related to da Vinci's
life and work. He donated this collection to UCLA in 1961. Born Arthur Elmer Belt in Chicago, Illinois on April 10, 1893,
his family moved to Los Angeles when he was nine and then to a small ranch in Orange County near Anaheim. Elmer Belt (the
form of name he preferred) entered Los Angeles High School in 1907 and enrolled in Latin, a medical school prerequisite. There
he met Ruth Smart whom, he said, he "never subsequently permitted out of my sight." The two were married in 1918. Dr. Belt
began collecting books as a student in 1909 with works by Upton Sinclair; in 1934 he became involved with Sinclair's campaign
for governor of California. The Upton Sinclair collection was eventually donated to Occidental College. Dr. Belt attended
the University of California at Berkeley, obtaining a B.A. in 1916 and an M.A. in 1917. He attended the University of California
Medical School in San Francisco and was chosen as a fellow of the Hooper Institute for Medical Research, working with Dr.
George Whipple and Dr. Frank Hinman. After finishing medical school in 1920 Dr. Belt continued working in urology with Dr.
Hinman. Early in his medical school career, Dr. Belt signed up for a non-credit elective course in the History of Medicine
taught by Dr. George Washington Corner, an anatomist who had recently come to the University of California from Johns Hopkins
University. It was in this class that Dr. Belt developed his fascination with and devotion to Leonardo da Vinci, inspiring
the vast library of Vinciana he eventually donated to UCLA. Subsequently his collecting fervor also included Silas Weir Mitchell
and Florence Nightingale and in the 1930s Dr. Belt began working with Los Angeles bookseller Jake Zeitlin to fulfill these
and other ambitious collecting interests. After a year as Resident in Urology with Dr. Hinman in San Francisco, Dr. Belt spent
a year as Resident in General Surgery at Boston's Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, working under Dr. Harvey Cushing. In 1923,
the Belts moved to Los Angeles where Elmer began a private practice. He soon established the Elmer Belt Urologic Group, a
group practice which moved to its own building on Wilshire Boulevard in 1936; the upper floor of this structure housed his
ever-expanding library. From 1939 through 1954 Belt served as the President of the State Board of Public Health, having been
first appointed by California Governor Culbert Olsen and then reappointed by Governor Earl Warren for each of Warren's three
terms in office. Dr. Belt had privileges as a staff, attending, or consulting urologist at many hospitals around Los Angeles
County and taught as Clinical Professor of Surgery (Urology) in the UCLA School of Medicine. He was instrumental in the founding
of the UCLA School of Medicine and finding its first dean, and continued as its staunch supporter throughout his life. Elmer
Belt died on May 17, 1980 at age 87.
Scope and Contents
The Elmer Belt collection of Vinciana graphic arts is a special collection of original artwork, original printed lithographs,
and materials concerning Leonardo da Vinci and the Italian Renaissance. It was donated to UCLA in 1961 by Dr. Elmer Belt,
Professor Emeritus in the UCLA School of Medicine and a collector of Vinciana for more than sixty years.
Arrangement
The arrangement of materials maintains their existing order.
Related Materials