6. Medicine

From the mediaeval period there are sixteen original manuscripts and a large number of microfilms of texts held in other libraries in Britain and the USA MS 163 - MS 177 are described by Borland (H6), and include two 12th century Latin MSS, a 13th century Latin Galen, and two finely illuminated Latin MSS written in England (MS 165, Avicenna, 13th century, and MS 169, Schola Salernitana, 1481).

There are several texts written in France, and two in French (MSS 171-172). MS 177 is a Latin text written in 1391 by a Flemish scribe for Archbishop Schevez of St Andrews. MS 329, described by Ker (H7) comprises four German works by Ortolf von Bayerlant and others (1463-4).

There are a number of 17th and 18th century medical treatises, notebooks and receipts, in Gaelic as well as English. There are also papers and correspondence relating to Archibald Pitcairne and Sir Robert Sibbald, two of Edinburgh's 17th century professors of medicine.

From their successors in the following century the Library has lecture notes, casebooks and other material. These include Alexander Monro (Primus) and Alexander Monro (Secundus), Andrew Plummer, Charles Alston, John and Daniel Rutherford, John and James Gregory, Francis Home, Robert Whytt, William Cullen and Andrew Duncan (Senior). There is similar 19th century material concerning Andrew Duncan (Junior), John Thomson, James Home, Sir Robert Christison, Sir George Ballingall (H53), Sir James Y. Simpson, John Hughes Bennett, Thomas Laycock, John Hutton Balfour, Sir William Turner, Sir Thomas Grainger Stewart, Sir Henry Littlejohn, Lord Lister and William Rutherford.

In the modern period, significant collections of papers exist for Harvey Duncan Littlejohn, Sir Sydney Smith, Daniel John Cunningham (H11) and Norman Dott (H32).

Material relating to several important Edinburgh medical alumni can also be found, including the papers of Sir James Mackenzie, while the Col. John Cunningham collection (H30) largely concerns early 20th century tropical medicine.

There are institutional records of the Medical Faculty, the Medical School and its departments, and papers of various related institutions such as the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, the Royal Public Dispensary, the Edinburgh Women's Medical Society, the Hunterian Medical Society and the Edinburgh Phrenological Society.

There is also material relating to Arthur Logan Turner and Douglas Guthrie, eminent historians of medicine. The Thomson-Walker Collection consists of engraved portraits of British and European medical men (with index). A microfilm copy of the records of the Royal Medical Society [of Edinburgh] is available.

The Lothian Health Services Collection is also administered by the Special Collections Department. It contains much valuable material for the history of medicine in Scotland, especially the records of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Separate finding aids are available.