Jón Steffensen (1905–1991), professor of anatomy and physiology at the University of Iceland, together with his wife Kristín Björnsdóttir (1905–1972), bequeathed his whole library to the University Library in 1982. The gift was made, among other things, to strengthen research into the history of Icelandic health care. The collection holds nearly all the works published on Icelandic health care and the writings of Icelandic physicians in foreign languages, along with many foreign works on the general history of medicine. It also contains many journals and yearbooks on health care. In addition, the collection has works on natural history, travel books, source works on the history of Iceland, Old Icelandic literature, foreign history, and Icelandic and foreign literature.