A library for the doctors
A library for the doctors
Since the founding of the College of Physicians and the establishment of its headquarters in 1518, a library has been central to the organisation’s identity. Over the centuries, through donations of books and money, the fellows of the College built a library that reflected their diverse interests within and beyond the subject of medicine.
Photography by John Chase
Printed books are a robust and sophisticated technology which, since their appearance in Europe in the 1450s, enabled the spread of information in previously unimaginable ways. The commitment of the College fellows to establishing an enduring institutional book collection has created a legacy that embodies the beauty, depth and variety of the printed word.
Yet the doctors’ library has faced many crises over its lifetime. It was almost completely destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, it stuttered through periods of neglect, embezzlement and homelessness, and it sustained bomb damage during the Second World War.
Today the library continues to grow, and researchers visit from around the world to study its contents. It is cared for by professional staff, committed to its survival for another 500 years.
The oldest printed book
De morali lepra [On moral foulness].
Johannes Nider, published Strasbourg, 1471
CN21876
The oldest printed book in the doctors’ library is not medical, but rather a treatise by a German bishop on how to live a moral, honourable life. It shows that doctors valued learning about wider subjects beyond medicine.
This book has had an incredible life. It was printed in Strasbourg on the French-German border and was later owned by the Russian book collector Count Jan Pieter van Suchtelen (1751-1836). After his death, it entered the Russian Imperial Library in St Petersburg. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, some of that library was sold and this book was bought by RCP fellow Roy Dobbin, usually a resident in Cairo, Egypt.
Donated by Roy Dobbin FRCP (1873-1939)
Photography by John Chase
The smallest book
Aeternitatis prodromus, mortis nuntius, quem sanis, aegrotis, moribundis [A forerunner of eternity, the messenger of death, to the healthy, the sick and the dying].
Jeremias Drexel, published Munich, 1628
CN13834
At only 99mm tall, this is the smallest bound book in the library. It fits neatly into the palm of a hand and the letters inside are barely 2mm high.
Despite being very small and difficult to read, this book does not qualify as a truly ‘miniature’ book – this honour is reserved for tomes that are 75mm tall or less.
Acquired after 1931
Photography by John Chase
The largest book
Tables of the skeleton and muscles of the human body
Bernhard Albinus, engraved by Charles Grignion, published London, 1749
CN22158
Books come in all shapes and sizes. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it became fashionable and technologically feasible to publish anatomical illustrations printed on very large ‘imperial folio’ paper.
This is a full-size replica of the tallest book in the library. It is 79cm tall, 58cm wide, and contains 40 illustrations of human figures in fantastical landscapes, with layers of their muscles progressively removed to show their internal anatomy.
The rhinoceros in the background of the illustration shown below was an 18th-century celebrity called Clara. She was toured around European cities before dying in captivity in 1758.
Books of this size were desirable and incredibly expensive collectors’ items, used by physicians and others to demonstrate their wealth, status and learnedness. This book cost £3 3s to buy in 1749; equivalent to 31 days’ wages for a skilled tradesperson. It was later owned by RCP fellow Matthew Baillie (1761–1823), who bequeathed all his medical books – big and small – to the RCP.
Bequeathed by Matthew Baillie (1761–1823)
Photography by John Chase
Titles in unusual places
Conicorum libri iv [Four books on the mathematics of cones]
Apollonius of Perga, published Antwerp, 1655
CN7305
A paper slip pasted into this book folds out to lie across the edge of the pages, displaying the author of the work: ‘Apollonius Pergaeus’. Edge-flaps of this kind are usually kept folded inside the book today, making them hard to find without checking every page of the book.
This example was uncovered as part of a research project by Catherine James, Institute of English Studies, University of London.
Donated by Grace Pierrepont (1635–1703)
De conservanda bona valetudine [On maintaining good health]
Medical School of Salerno, published Venice, 1619
CN15779
Historically, books were shelved with the edges of their pages facing outwards, with the title or author written across them in ink. This small book was kept lying down, with its bottom edge outwards: an owner has decoratively written ‘Schol. Salern.’, meaning ‘School of Salerno’, across the bottom of the pages.
Bought by the library, May 1916
Reproduced from Wiley Digital Archives, courtesy of Wiley Ltd.
Maintaining the library
Annals. Royal College of Physicians, 2 December 1709
MS4148
Maintaining a library takes constant work and requires specialist expertise. Even without major disasters such as fire, a library can be vulnerable to losses through poor record-keeping or dishonesty.
In 1709, RCP fellow Thomas Gill alleged that – while Thomas Burwell was the holder of the library keys in the 1680s and 1690s – ‘severall [books] had been embezel’d’. This was during a period of nearly 70 years, when no librarian had been appointed from among the RCP fellowship to oversee the care and maintenance of the books.
Cataloguing the library
Catalogue cards. Royal College of Physicians, mid-20th century
A library catalogue – a list of all the books and their locations – is vital to anyone who wants to use a library’s contents. Cataloguing technology has changed over the centuries, from handwritten ledgers to modern electronic systems. These typewritten cards are typical 20th-century examples and they were kept in a large cabinet of drawers in the library reading room on the second floor of this building, for staff and readers to use.
Defying gravity
Philosophia naturalis principia mathematica [Mathematical principles of natural philosophy]
Isaac Newton, published London, 1687
CN12592
Fire, flood, theft, loss and pest damage are all threats to library collections, but the most ubiquitous danger is the simple effect of gravity: the force first described by Isaac Newton in this book. The pages of a book (known as the textblock) are constantly pulled downwards, putting strain on the book’s spine, and eventually causing the covering to split and the sewing to pull apart. Custom-made book shoes, made by skilled book conservators, mitigate this risk by providing support to the base of the textblock, enabling the book to resist gravity’s pernicious pull.
Bought from Frederic John Poynton FRCP (1869–1943), October 1930
