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The archival afterlife of an artwork
The ‘Would you mind?’ installation was commissioned from artist and writer Neil Bartlett for Wellcome Collection’s exhibition: the Institute of Sexology. The piece took the form of a questionnaire available to visitors in the final section of the show. Samples… Continue reading
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A life researching sexually transmitted infections
Hungarian-born Dr George Csonka (1916-2000) was a venereologist and an expert in his field. A man so dedicated to his profession, he even infected himself with non-gonococcal urethritis in order to find the right antibiotic (reference: PP/CSO/A/5). Dr Csonka’s personal papers… Continue reading
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Western mandalas in the Cary Baynes archive
The Wellcome Library has several fine examples of traditional mandalas, each a bounty of heavenly palaces, cemetries, animals, flowers, divine retinues etc. Some are currently on display in Wellcome Collection as part of the Tibet’s Secret Temple exhibition. The recently… Continue reading
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Linking letters across archives
On a recent visit to the Library, archivist Karen Rushton made some interesting connections between letters in the Wellcome Library archives and others in archives at the University of Manchester Library. By their very nature, correspondence by particular individuals often… Continue reading
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A gift for Disability History Month
A Gift for Love is a film about a seven-year-old girl, Judy, played by Amanda Humby, finding her mother the perfect Christmas present with the 6 shillings and 8 pence in her money box. The only problem is that they… Continue reading
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Michael Ashburner archive: the second release
Michael Ashburner is a world authority on the genetics and genome sequence of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. The second batch of records from the Ashburner archive is now available to view at the Wellcome Library (reference PP/MIA). This batch… Continue reading
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Notes from beyond
Is this the Wellcome Library’s most striking catalogue description? MS.1074: Message stated to have been given at a séance at Bristol on Sunday, November 1st, 1874… For the perspective of the librarian or archivist this immediately raises a cataloguing conundrum – who do… Continue reading
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Edith Morgan: a life’s work in mental health
Edith Morgan was a prominent figure in the field of mental health for over 40 years, both in the UK and internationally. Her personal papers, documenting her remarkable career, have just been catalogued and are available to view at the… Continue reading
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From mother to mother: the National Childbirth Trust archive
The newly-catalogued National Childbirth Trust (NCT) archive, containing over 270 boxes of rich archive material, brings to life the history of childbirth and maternity care from the post-war period to the present day. The archive explores how women responded to… Continue reading
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MacLean and Smedley: love among the scientists
By chance, a new addition to Wellcome Images led me to an intriguing story of love (and collaboration) in the laboratory. The photograph shows equipment for MacLean’s estimation of blood sugar kit, which was produced by Allen and Hanburys, an… Continue reading