Author: Ross Macfarlane

  Of the many joys that accompany a stroll around the Wellcome Library’s stores, an unexpected encounter with a rhinoceros must rank as one of the more novel. The beast in question is Clara, an Indian Rhino who became in… Continue reading

Known to many as the Coneflower, others as the Samson root or Missouri Snakeroot, this native of the North American prairies is found in many a British garden’s late summer border or wildlife garden. Despite its popularity as an ornamental… Continue reading

‘Some of the Guests at the Conversazione’ runs the title of this photograph, but what is the occasion has been captured for posterity? Who are these ladies and gentlemen, dressed impeccably in their best evening wear? Let’s zoom in a… Continue reading

This week’s free Wellcome Library Insight session – on Thursday 4th August – ties in with Wellcome Collection’s current Dirt exhibition. The session will show how doctors, governments and ordinary citizens in London have struggled against poor hygiene, pollution and… Continue reading

As part of the Wellcome Digital Library pilot project, we’re joining forces with ProQuest to digitise over fifteen thousand volumes from our rare book collection. They will be made available through ProQuest’s new Early European Books (EEB) database – a… Continue reading

From the 15th July until 28th August 2011, an exhibition consisting of reproduction posters entitled Spreading the Word: AIDS posters from Around the World, will be on display at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester. The Wellcome… Continue reading

In 2002 and 2009 the Wellcome Library acquired the papers of food policy activist and expert Tim Lang (b.1948). The collection has recently been catalogued in detail (PP/TLA) and is now available for consultation. Tim Lang’s archive provides an important… Continue reading

Published four times a year, Wellcome News contains up-to-date articles highlighting the Wellcome Trust’s wide-reaching science and public engagement activities, grant schemes, policies and more. The latest issue’s ‘From the Archive’ feature, highlights one of our digitised recipe manuscripts (MS.7113),… Continue reading

This year’s Manchester International Festival sees the premier of a new opera, based on the life of the Elizabethan mathematician, astrologer and alchemist, John Dee. We’ve already tweeted about the Opera and flagged up some Dee-related items from our collections.… Continue reading

The image above captures the popular conception of London’s reaction to the Blitz, which was arguably at its most fearsome during May and June 70 years ago. During the night-time bombings, lives were lost and buildings were destroyed. But come… Continue reading