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The uses of ox bezoar in pre-modern Japan in ritual and medical practices
The next seminar in the 2017–18 History of Pre-Modern Medicine seminar series takes place on Tuesday 24 October. Speaker: Dr Benedetta Lomi (University of Bristol), ‘The uses of ox bezoar in pre-modern Japan in ritual and medical practices’ This paper focuses on the therapeutic… Continue reading
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History of Pre-Modern Medicine seminar series, 2017–18
The History of Pre-Modern Medicine seminar series returns this autumn. The 2017–18 series – organised by a group of historians of medicine based at London universities and hosted by the Wellcome Library – will commence with four seminars in the… Continue reading
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Spotlight: driving out the demon of smallpox
Smallpox plagued medieval Japan, the disease was thought to be brought on by an Onryō (怨霊), a vengeful mythological spirit. This specific spirit or demon was eventually given the name Hōsōshin (疱瘡神). In the tale of Tametomo and Hōsōshin, the… Continue reading
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Hell is empty and all the devils are here
In the Library’s Art Collection is a wealth of Japanese iconographic works. Of fiendish interest to us this Halloween, is one fascinating print featuring the demons of Japanese folklore and mythology. The woodcut print by Kunisada Utagawa above features six Japanese masks.… Continue reading
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Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus / Happy St David’s Day
In honour of St David’s Day, the national day of Wales, today we focus on one of the Library’s Welsh holdings. One of the fascinations of archive material in particular is the way that it makes things specific: takes large,… Continue reading
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“In an admirable manner”: Darwinism on the grapevine
This Japanese woodcut (left: click on image to enlarge; by K. Egawa after a painting by Ryūrikyō, 18th century. Wellcome Library no. 730398i) can be considered from several points of view, one of which is its unwitting role as an illustration… Continue reading
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Stone brocades of fish and football
In any historical library, there is a continuous conversation between, on the one hand, the subjects discussed within the library’s holdings, and, on the other hand, the forms (vocabularies, media, genres, materials) in which those subjects are thought about, discussed,… Continue reading
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Courier duties to the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
Leonardo di Vinci, Damien Hirst and Marc Quinn are just a few of the famous artists whose works will be displayed at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, as well as other contemporary and historical items from the collections of… Continue reading