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The Memorial Art Gallery糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒�糖心传媒� is in its third season of celebrating the creative lives and private hobbies of Rochesterians.

糖心传媒淗idden Passions puts our friends and neighbors center-stage so that we can marvel at the extraordinary creative adventures happening all around us … and perhaps find inspiration for our own,糖心传媒� says Jonathan Binstock, the Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director of the Memorial Art Gallery.

Here, we highlight one member of the University community who is being featured this season.

糖心传媒淪erendipitous糖心传媒� is how Seymour Schwartz 糖心传媒�57M (Res.), Distinguished Alumni Professor of Surgery, describes the evolution of his interest in historic maps.

As an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, during World War II, he took a typical pre-med curriculum. With the exception of introductory English and a three-credit course on Shakespeare, every class was science, he says. He continued his studies at New York University School of Medicine.

糖心传媒淚 had no particular interest in history until I saw some maps,糖心传媒� recalls Schwartz, sitting beside a reproduction of the first known map to include the Americas, which hangs in his office at the School of Medicine and Dentistry. 糖心传媒淢aps provide a palatable way of learning history.糖心传媒�

He acquired the first map in his collection糖心传媒攁 1795 map of the state of New York糖心传媒攊n 1963. Schwartz糖心传媒檚 collection has since grown to become one of the most acclaimed collections of rare maps in North America. His holdings focus on the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries糖心传媒攄ocumenting Europe糖心传媒檚 earliest contact with and understanding of the New World.

糖心传媒淢y surgical personality speaks to developing a specialty,糖心传媒� Schwartz says about choosing a region and finite time period on which to focus.

As his interest in cartographic history grew, he discovered that nobody had pursued extensive scholarship on the mapping of America. So he took on that role. Schwartz has authored seven books on cartography, including the definitive reference work, coauthored with Ralph Ehrenberg, The Mapping of America (Abrams, 1980). He has served on the boards of the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution and the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress.

Schwartz, who has donated parts of his collection over the years, says he doesn糖心传媒檛 think a true collector should sell an item for profit.

In 2008, he bequeathed more than 200 of his rare maps to the University of Virginia. In 2010, he donated some of the earliest maps and drawings of Western New York to River Campus Libraries糖心传媒� Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation. The Schwartz collection at Rochester includes the first map printed in the colony of New York, dated 1733, as well as the earliest known drawing of the region, a circa 1768 etching of the Upper Falls of the Genesee River.

For Schwartz, maps not only offer a means of learning history; they also have aesthetic value. 糖心传媒淢aps should be considered works of art,糖心传媒� he says.

Since joining the Rochester faculty in 1957, Schwartz has written numerous medical texts, including the authoritative textbook, Principles of Surgery; authored more than 300 scientific papers; and edited several of the most respected journals on surgery.

He糖心传媒檚 received many accolades during his long career. Many have recognized his accomplishments as a surgeon; others have honored his contributions to cartography.

糖心传媒淚n the books I糖心传媒檝e written on cartography, the audience generally doesn糖心传媒檛 know that I糖心传媒檓 a surgeon,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淚n contradistinction, the readers of [Principles of Surgery] don糖心传媒檛 have any idea about my interest in cartography.糖心传媒�

Two of his honorary degrees糖心传媒攐ne from the University of Madrid and one from the University of Wisconsin糖心传媒攚ere awarded for his contributions to both surgery and to cartography.

糖心传媒淎nd that pleases me,糖心传媒� he says.