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The Wellcome Library is founded on the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936), whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the 20th century. Henry Wellcome's interest was the history of medicine in a broad sense and included subjects such as
alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world ...
or
witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have u ...
, but also
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
and ethnography. Since Henry Wellcome's death in 1936, the
Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glax ...
has been responsible for maintaining the Library's collection and funding its acquisitions. The library is free and open to the public.


History

Henry Wellcome began collecting books seriously in the late 1890s, using a succession of agents and dealers, and by travelling around the world to gather whatever could be found. Wellcome's first major entry into the market took place at the auction of William Morris's library in 1898, where he was the biggest single purchaser, taking away about a third of the lots. His interests were truly international and the broad coverage of languages and traditions is one of the library's strengths. Significant collections acquired during this early period included the library of Joseph Frank Payne, medical historian and librarian of the Royal College of Physicians, purchased in 1911, and the major part of the library of the Munich historian Ernst Darmstaedter, bought in 1930. When Henry Wellcome died, the bulk of his estate and his collection was bequeathed to a body of trustees, who formed the
Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glax ...
. Their primary duty was to use the income generated by the trust to support ongoing biomedical research, but they were also charged with fostering the study of medical history through the care and maintenance of the collections. A programme of sorting and rationalising was therefore begun, which lasted throughout the 1940s and beyond. The library's story during the later decades of the 20th century has been one of continuing growth and development. A significant addition during the 1980s was the purchase of the manuscripts, and about 10,000 printed books, from the Medical Society of London Library.


Nomenclature

The Wellcome Library has been renamed more than once. Over the years from the early twentieth century onwards it has been known, formally and informally, as "The Wellcome Reference Library" (ca. 1930), "The Wellcome Research Library" (to 1941), "Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and Library" (to 1968), "The Wellcome Historical Medical Research Library" (late 1960s and early 1970s), "Wellcome Institute of (later "for") the History of Medicine ibrary" "Wellcome Institute Library" (1980s), "Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine" (early 2000s). The Wellcome Trust's activities around the history of medicine, and on the public understanding of science, were brought together in 1998 to create a new Medicine, Society, and History Division. Recognising a wider remit than history of medicine only, the library is today (2019) part of Wellcome Collection and aims to promote both the history and understanding of medicine.


Collections


History of medicine collection

A collection of books, journals and other print materials, and electronic resources, dealing with the history of all aspects of medical science and practice, as well as allied scientific disciplines, social sciences, and humanities - currently comprises more than 80,000 volumes in many languages, published from 1850 to the present day.


Medical Collection

The Medical Collection contains printed works of medical and scientific literature published from the 15th century to the present day, including rare books and ephemera. The collection comprises thousands of medical monographs, anatomical atlases, pharmacopoeias and some 20,000 items of medical ephemera, as well as a growing number of electronic resources covering a diverse range of subjects including popular science, consumer health, biomedical science policy, research ethics, science education and public engagement with science.


Asian collections

Comprises 12,000 manuscripts and 4,000 printed books in 43 different languages and written on materials including paper, palm leaf, silk, ivory, metal, bone, bamboo and tree bark. A medical prescription from ancient Egypt, written on papyrus (c. 1100 BCE), is the oldest document in the Wellcome Library. The largest manuscript collection in the library is the Indic collection, which includes one of the largest Sanskrit collections outside India, numbering approximately 6,500 items.


Archives and manuscripts

Includes many unpublished European records dating from antiquity to the 20th century - the manuscripts contain material in 25 different languages. The (mainly) 20th century archives concentrate on material in English. They include papers of eminent figures in medical science and related areas (such as Francis Crick and Melanie Klein) as well as records of numerous and diverse organisations: * Action on Smoking and Health * British Psychological Society *
Family Planning Association FPA (Family Planning Association) was a UK registered charity (number 250187) working to enable people to make informed choices about sex and to enjoy sexual health. It was the national affiliate for the International Planned Parenthood Federat ...
*
Neonatal Society Established in the United Kingdom in 1959 the Neonatal Society is the world's oldest learned society for the promotion of neonatal science. It is composed of both scientists and clinicians working in the area of the fetus and newborn. The ar ...
* The Physiological Society


Rare book collection

Approximately 60,000 pre-1851 rare books including c. 600 incunabula (books printed before 1501) and c. 5000 books from the 16th century. All aspects of medical science and practice are represented, and there are wide and varied holdings in allied subjects.


Paintings, prints and drawings collection

More than 100,000 prints, drawings, paintings, photographs and other media, ranging from the 14th century to the present day, and geographically from Japan and China in the east through Tibet and India to Turkey, Europe and the Americas, with smaller collections dealing with Africa and Australasia. In accordance with Wellcome's philosophy, the works show the historical and cultural contexts of medicine as well as internal developments in medical techniques and practices.


Moving image and sound collections

More than 4,000 films and videos and 1,500 audio tapes, both broadcast and non-broadcast, covering the many and varied aspects of medicine: social and clinical areas of science, historical and current topics, physical and psychological aspects of health and surgery. Some of these titles are available through a YouTube channel.


Wellcome images

A selection of images from the Wellcome Library's collections are included in Wellcome Images, from illustrations in manuscripts and rare books to painting, prints and photographs. In January 2014 these images were released under a Creative Commons-Attribution licence for commercial and non-commercial use. 97,455 of these CC-licensed images have been bulk-uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. Wellcome Images also has a large collection of contemporary clinical and biomedical images from teaching hospitals, research laboratories and photographers throughout the UK and beyond. These are freely available for download for personal, academic teaching or study use, also under
Creative Commons licences A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyri ...
.


Wikimedian in residence

From May 2016 until October 2017, the Wellcome Library was host to a
Wikimedian in residence A Wikipedian in residence or Wikimedian in residence (WiR) is a Wikipedia editor, a Wikipedian (or Wikimedian), who accepts a placement with an institution, typically an art gallery, library, archive, museum, cultural institution, learned soci ...
, jointly supported by Wikimedia UK. The residency's aims included improving the visibility and use of images from the Wellcome uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, training staff and visitors how to edit, and helping to improve medicine and history of medicine content on Wiki-projects (particularly pages on
mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...
).


See also

*
Marianne Winder Dr Marianne Winder (10 September 1918 – 6 April 2001) was a British specialist in Middle High German and a librarian at the Institute of Germanic Studies at the University of London. She later was associated for more than thirty years with ...


References


External links

*
Wellcome Library blog

Wellcome Library YouTube channel

Wellcome Collection website

Wellcome Trust website
{{Authority control Archives in the London Borough of Camden Libraries in the London Borough of Camden Medical libraries World Digital Library partners Wellcome Trust Research libraries in the United Kingdom