One name dominates Hunter’s library catalogue in the ‘G’ section of William Hunter’s library: Galen. Hunter offered his assessment of Galen in the survey of the history of anatomy in the first lecture he gave to his students. You can see that, and a report of some of the highlights from the ‘G’ section of…
The 268 entries that are listed under ‘F’ in Museum Records 3 again demonstrate the variety of books that William Hunter collected. As in other sections of his catalogue, we find that Hunter’s interests in anatomy and medicine are well represented. Another theme that emerges in this section is travel and exploration. See the full F…
An angry group of Edinburgh theatre patrons targeted an actor, Mr James Fennell, for systematic abuse as he attempted to perform his role in ‘Venice Preserv’d, or a Plot Discover’d’ at the Theatre Royal on 9 July 1788. The unruly group had entered into a most unwarrantable and illegal combination and conspiracy, to interrupt the…
The ‘E’ section of Hunter’s Trustees’ Library Catalogue (now known as Museum Records 3 – or MR 3 for short) comprises 135 entries. This forms a small but rich section of the catalogue and the project update focuses on incunables and early modern scholarly printing as well as a selection of books listed under ‘Essays’….
Henry Raeburn v. Andrew Kedslie This day the new jury court met in the Court of Exchequer, when their Lordships proceeded to try the case of RAEBURN &c. against KEDSLIE. This was an action relative to the erection of a steam engine at Stockbridge-mills, which the pursuers contend, is a nuisance. (Edinburgh Evening Courant, 22…
The ‘D’ section of Hunter’s Trustees’ catalogue offered me a chance to combine medical humanities and legal history. The highlights report for the section focuses on a book by Hunter’s mentor Dr James Douglas and on the biggest civil case in eighteenth-century Scotland, the Douglas Cause. You can read the related blog post at the…
‘C’ The letter ‘C’ is now completely transcribed from the Museum Records 3 manuscript and the entries have been matched to the Special Collections library catalogue. Highlights from this section include a variety of Georgian medical writers, a collection of pamphlets relating to the case of Elizabeth Canning, a considerable amount of books by Cicero,…
Work is progressing in the William Hunter’s Library project. The transcription of the ‘B’ section of the Trustees’ catalogue is now complete and work is now well underway on ‘C’. ‘B’ once again demonstrates the variety of texts Hunter collected and features a range of medical writers as well as literary authors. The full update…
‘William Hunter’s Library: A Transcription of the Early Catalogues’ is a one-year Wellcome Trust funded project that aims to determine which books now in the Hunterian Collection in the University of Glasgow’s Special Collections actually belonged to Hunter. The main goal is to enable analysis of Hunter’s original library by creating a fully searchable and…
I was made redundant from my main job in July but I have been lucky enough to have not one but two of my ex-employers take me on in temporary part-time roles while I looked for a new role and started forming a portfolio career for freelance work. (UPDATE: I’m delighted to say that I…
