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Coleridge and the doctors
For National Poetry Day we highlighted one of the poems in our collection: a rollicking travelogue that is sadly anonymous. Much of the poetry in the Wellcome Library is anonymous – in many cases, it is amateur material bad enough… Continue reading
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Some fatherly advice from the king
What right do we have to subject our children to potentially dangerous medical intervention in the interests of sparing them from a devastating disease that they may never contract? In the early 18th century several British royal children were inoculated… Continue reading
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Lady Montagu and the introduction of inoculation
The British and Irish Women’s Letters database, subscribed to by the Library, includes diaries and letters from approximately 500 women. One of these women is the fascinating and adventurous Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Lady Mary Montagu was a celebrity in… Continue reading
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New database: British and Irish Women’s Letters and Diaries
The Library has recently subscribed to the online database British and Irish Women’s Letters and Diaries. It includes diaries and letters from approximately 500 women. All of these women have something important to share, and give fascinating perspectives on issues and… 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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British and Irish Women’s Letters and Diaries
Wellcome Library is pleased to announce that it has subscribed to the database British and Irish Women’s Letters and Diaries. The collection covers the period 1500-1950 and provides fascinating insights into the personal experiences of almost 500 women. Library members… Continue reading
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Dastardly Doctor Crippen
The doctor sat at his desk and signed the letter. Not long back after a romantic holiday in France, he was feeling content. Barely three miles away, the dismembered remains of his wife lay decomposing under their floor… Hawley Harvey… Continue reading
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Henry Wellcome, Oscar Wilde and the American Tenor
On the 150th anniversary of the birth of Oscar Wilde, it seems apt to draw attention to one of the more surprising letters in Henry Wellcome’s papers. Why would Wilde be writing to Wellcome? The answer reveals a surprsing string… Continue reading
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Florence Nightingale Digitisation News
Two more digitised items have been added to the Florence Nightingale Digitization Project: an album relating to her services in the Crimea compiled by Mrs Shore, possibly her relative, and the manuscript notes of conversations with Nightingale, taken by her relative… Continue reading
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Florence Nightingale letters available online
The Library has digitised its collection of nearly 600 Nightingale letters dating from 1829 to 1905. The Florence Nightingale Digitisation Project, which is in partnership with Boston University and the Florence Nightingale Museum, means that Nightingale’s entire correspondence will be… Continue reading