Physicians' Gallery

The best way to show everyone what a brilliant surgeon you are? Fill your book with illustrations of good ones - skill by association! In this case a little-known surgeon didn't put himself in the picture - instead all the images are of renowned French and German anatomists

Join us on 26th Oct for a special curator-led tour of our new exhibition, Dear Green Places: Nature and our Health. We'll be delving deeper into the items on display and discussing how nature is crucial for our health. The tour is free but booking is essential: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dear-green...

Dr Xinyi Wen was the winner of our inaugural Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh History of Medicine Award with her paper on the doctrine of signatures. Have a listen to the talks of all our finalists www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/his...

Antimony cup. Made from a toxic metal which made the user sweat, vomit and defecate. Wine would be left to stand in the cup for up to 24 hours until infused with the metal and then drunk. The body would then, supposedly, be cleansed of the bad 'humors'

17thc astrology diagnosis for Libras - well framed, tall, a round beautiful visage, pure complexion...likely to suffer from wind

Ever wanted to make your own philosophers' stone? This rare edition of Salomon Trismosin's 'Splendor Solis' from 1598 demonstrates the importance of colour in alchemy as the 'Philosophers' Egg' changes colour when heated

Always appreciate it when our #botany books come with inserted examples (Newman, 1844)

Join us at this free event to hear short talks on Empire, Renaissance and Enlightenment medicine! 💰 Free entry 🍷 Complimentary wine and other refreshments 📍 11 Queen Street, Edinburgh 📅 15 October Find out more 👉 www.eventbrite.com/e/history-of...

We've just launched a new digital resource! Almost 15,000 entries, covering every Fellow, Honorary Fellow, Member and Licentiate of our College from our foundation to 1926. Check it out 👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/phy...

1578 Counsell Against the Pestilence - use cinnamon, violet and cloves, but under no circumstances rely on a walnut

Betonia officinalis was believed to be effective against sorcery and was planted in churchyards to ward off ghosts. According to one 16thc botanist it also 'maketh a man to pisse well'

A history of divination, werewolves and swan-maidens in our digitised text 'Myths and Myth-Makers' archive.org/details/b219...

📣New blog 📣 ‘The Gàidhealtachd in the World of British Medicine’. PhD researcher Euan Bowman on placement at the RCP kept an eye out for wee slices of his Scottish home in our collections. His blog shares his insights into Gaels & the British medical establishment history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/gaidhea...

Our College around 1900, showing rooms filled with ferns. This was during the fern fever (also known as Pteridomania) of the Victorian period. Fern collecting was a hugely popular pastime and was even rumoured to enhance virility and improve mental health

This 17thc work is dedicated to palmistry, or chiromancy, i.e. the idea you can predict the future through the study of the palm. In this diagram, different lines on the hand represent Venus, wealth and rationality

#Discover This Child Vaccination Poster from c. 1950s offers a fascinating glimpse into the history of public health communication. What can this poster tell us about attitudes towards childhood vaccination — then and now? Explore the item: collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...

John Hill was an apothecary and botanist, known for his publications on natural science and regularly accused of plagiarism. This page shows some images that have been copied from previous unrealistic descriptions

This textile banner was made by community groups in Leeds. Participants were asked to share things they wish they had known about menstruation to capture experiences about starting a period, pregnancy and menopause. Find out more in Rag👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

'One can use the sword as a crutch...cold weak tea is best for the march'. A study of wartime self-aid (1900) archive.org/details/b219...

Swallowing pistol bullets as a cure for hysteria, 18thc folk remedy used by Jean Clerk, a seamstress (noted in Edinburgh dispensary records)

Join us on the 20th September (10am-4pm) for Glasgow Doors Open Day! We'll be opening our beautiful building for you to explore. There'll also be the chance to see our brand new exhibition Dear Green Places, and our copy of Audubon's Birds of America www.glasgowdoorsopendays.org.uk/events/royal...

Illustration of the heart, with flaps that can be folded back to reveal the inner chambers, from Descartes' 'The Treatise of Man'. Published after his death, he feared that this book would result in accusations of heresy for its idea of 'man as a machine'

This shows the red blood cells of different animals. The author William Hewson ran an anatomy school in London. In 1998 workers found human remains beneath the property. Likely Hewson acquired bodies illegally for his study and then hid them afterwards Find out more👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

'A wonderful historie of a monster who from the navell upwards had the shape of a man and the rest like a dogge'. This 16thc text is a collection of extraordinary stories - demons, sea-monsters, serpents and centaurs

This handy 18thc cure for the King's Evil (i.e. scrofula) argues that 'Mice roasted, and eaten by Children, is very good'

These re-usable period products were created by Hey Girls, a Scottish social enterprise. Period poverty is a very real problem and around 500 million women worldwide struggle to manage their periods safely Find out more👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

Bloodletting could cause infection. This image shows the arm of James Donachy who was being treated for a rib fracture when his doctor decided to bleed him. Three days after blood was first taken, his arm became inflamed and the wound opened Find out more in Rag👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

This book, by English doctor James Johnson, examines the medicinal uses of leeches. The book describes experiments on different leeches to see how easily they could be ‘tamed’. The horse leech, it says, is the most wild and unpredictable. Find out more in Rag👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

The 1700s artist James Gillray produced engravings of medical treatments. In these prints the unfortunate patient can be seen receiving laxatives, vomits and foul-tasting medicines before he begins the course of bloodletting shown in this image Find out more in Rag👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

Bloodletting was far from just a European practice and was carried out in parts of South America, Africa and across both South and East Asia. This illustration depicts bloodletting in 1500s Egypt Find out more in Rag👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag

Free #Edinburgh exhibition If you're in town for #EdFringe check out our exhibition Rag. Exploring the history of blood from transfusions to menstruation 📍 Physicians’ Gallery, 11 Queen Street, EH2 1JQ 📅 Mon – Fri, 10am – 4.30pm Find out more 👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

This is a Zodiac Man. These showed the relationship between parts of the body and the zodiac. Stories were told to explain these connections – the heart was Leo because lions were brave, Cancer was the chest wall because crabs have shells. Find out more in Rag👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

This 1785 recipe, to make a powder of your blood, describes how to cook the blood before storing it in a bladder. This treatment, the recipe emphasises, 'will be no cure to another' - each person must only ingest their own blood. Find out more in Rag www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

19th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints Creatively Illustrate the Inner Workings of the Human Body www.openculture.com/2026/07/japa...

A 1785 chapbook recipe for 'Beardiness', including watercress and sealions. Too much beard? Try the blood of a bat!

Every six months we re-roll the alchemical Ripley Scroll which is on display in our Gallery. This is to help preserve the scroll from damage, and to give you something new to look at! Stop by and see the newly unrolled biting bird, menstruating dragon and Hermes, the alchemist.

Late 1800s obstetrics lecture, showcasing teaching materials including anatomical dolls and medical illustrations

Maria Sibylla Merian’s early 18thc natural history illustrations, she was a major contributor to #entomology – particularly with her research on the metamorphosis of butterflies

This is one of the first books on medical care for horses. For the cure ‘of the biting with a mad Dogge’, Markham recommends covering the wound with goat dung, elderwort and 40 walnuts crushed together to make a paste

Dr Kadambini Ganguli, was a woman of many firsts. One of the first 2 women graduates of India & the British Empire & the first Indian woman to graduate & practice Western Medicine in India. Discover more in this blog by Dr Theeba Krishnamoorthy 👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/dr-kada... #SAHM2026

This board game was created by the Lothian Health Board and Lothian Regional Council as part of a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the risks surrounding HIV and AIDS Find out more in Rag👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

These bags were created as part of The Blood Bag Project. The project has collected over 1,500 bags from all over the world, including Australia, Japan and Russia. Some have been made by artists, some by patients and some by school pupils. Find out more in Rag👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

In the 19th century, physicians occasionally used strychnine to treat paralysis. However, the drug’s potential for toxicity was immense; the violent, rigid convulsions it triggered were often indistinguishable from tetanus, leading to frequent diagnostic errors. #MedicalHistory

Suffering from a gouty disposition? According to 18thc physician William Cullen the best treatment was opium, brandy and a little amusement cullenproject.ac.uk/docs/3910/

We know who owned them. We don't know who they were. These extraordinary 17th C anatomical tables consist of six panels, showing the preserved veins, arteries & nerves of real human bodies, & two animal organs dissected at the University of Padua with extraordinary skill & care. 1/4

New podcast episode! We’re digging into the gnarly history of blood transfusion. From dog blood to black urine, a man is allegedly kidnapped off the streets while scientists vie for primacy in this story of innovation, experimentation and bad ideas. 👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/blo...

Join us for brains, biology and babies! #edinburgh www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/family-ac...

For hundreds of years illustrations of women’s reproductive organs were focused on the foetus. These 1834 illustrations are unusual because they show the female reproductive organs without focusing on pregnancy. Find out more in Rag👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag...

Find out more about @physiciansgallery.bsky.social workshops: www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/eve...

This #marginalia lion is perching on the side of George Ripley's seminal 15th century alchemical scroll. Lions represent sulphur in alchemy and when paired with mercury (a lioness) they produce the Philosopher's Stone