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Spotlight: Her Majesty’s dinner
This royal menu card from Balmoral Castle takes us back to the reign of Queen Victoria. Then as now, the monarch spent her summers in Aberdeenshire. Some of the Queen’s most intimate body-servants also hailed from Scotland; not only the… Continue reading
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The Genius of Ismond Rosen
Psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, authority on human sexuality, media pundit, acclaimed artist and prolific writer: whichever way you look at it Ismond Rosen (1924-1996) was possessed of an exceptional intellect. His archive, which comprises 119 boxes of documentary material, photographic images, art… Continue reading
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Melville Mackenzie and the Origins of Global Health
‘Global Health’ is very much in the news with the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa. We tend to take the notion of such global health initiatives for granted now but David MacFadyen’s research reminds us that this was not always… Continue reading
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Defenders of destitute doctors
“Each Wednesday evening Mrs Hunter welcomed the brightest talents of the Georgian cultural world through the graceful doorway of number 28 and up the marble staircase to the first floor salon overlooking the square, where they recited, danced and gossiped… Continue reading
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Dr Eric Cruickshank : a Scotsman up for a challenge
The papers of doctor and medical educator, Eric Kennedy Cruickshank (1914-2007) have recently been catalogued and are available to researchers in the Wellcome Library (Library catalogue reference: PP/EKC). The papers, donated to us by Josephine Cruickshank in 2009, give a… Continue reading
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Tales of a travelling doctor: ‘neither science nor disease knows any frontiers’
Melville Douglas Mackenzie (1889-1972) was no ordinary doctor. In his lifespan, he travelled the globe providing relief and support to countries stricken with cholera, typhus, malaria, and other rapidly spreading contagions. His travels took him from Mesopotamia to Russia, and… Continue reading
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Doctors abroad: travel & far flung places
In honour of home movie day on 19th October, we have created a playlist on the Wellcome Library’s youtube channel of amateur films shot by doctors and others on their travels. The earliest footage, A day at Gebel Moya, briefly… Continue reading
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Dr Cicely Williams speaks to the nation
There is something very special about hearing a person’s voice. Tucked away in the Wellcome Library’s Cicely Williams archive there are a few audio-recordings. These have recently been digitised and two of the best are now online, making it possible… Continue reading
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Doctors on the box
It seems that you can hardly switch on the TV these days without stumbling across a fly-on-the-wall documentary set amidst the high octane drama of an A&E department, or someone willing to have the details of their intimate surgery broadcast… Continue reading
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Out of the ether… Papers on the history of anaesthesia now available
Most people have heard of John Snow as the man who traced the source of the 1854 cholera outbreak in Soho to one pump in Broad Street. However, Snow’s primary work as a pioneering anaesthetist is often overlooked. Richard Ellis,… Continue reading