“Books and Other Certain Rarities”: The Library and Archive of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Date(s): 21 March 2024

Time: 11am and 2pm

Cost: £6.50-£9.50

Booking Link: https://shop.museum.rcsed.ac.uk/products/books-and-other-certain-rarities-the-library-and-archive-of-the-royal-college-of-surgeons-of-edinburgh

Join the Library and Archive of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in celebration of Rare Books Edinburgh 2024.

The first recorded evidence of the Library at The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh was in 1696, when archived Minutes recorded that "books and other certain rarities" were to be provided in the new Hall of the Incorporation of Barbers and Chirurgeons, then being built in High School Yards.

In 1832 a new Surgeons Hall opened on Nicolson Street, incorporating a new Library, and a 1908 extension created a basement store to house the archive collection.

Today, our Library and Archive team care for this collection of thousands of surgical books, serials and historical documents, while answering enquiries on all aspects of the College’s unique role in the history of medicine and surgery.

For Rare Books Edinburgh 2024 we will be exhibiting many of our rare medical and surgical books and manuscripts, as well as non-medical texts such as a 1460 “Book of Hours”, and a superb copy of “The Nuremberg Chronicle” from 1493.

Your ticket also gives you museum access between 10am-5pm on the day of your visit.