If you've ever wondered what a medical textbook from the 1800s looked like, now's your chance.
The Wellcome Library recently announced that it is in the process of digitizing 15 million pages of books and pamphlets from 19th-century medical books. Along with the Wellcome Library and digital services company Jisc, libraries from nine other institutions are also contributing their collections to partner in the digitalization effort. The institutions are: the University College London, the University of Leeds, the University of Glasgow, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the University of Bristol, King's College London, the Royal College of Physicians of London, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Take a step back into history as you look at some of the pages from the medical books that have already been digitized:
A page from "Traité pratique d'anatomie descriptive: mis en rapport avec l'atlas d'anatomie et lui servant de complément" (1858) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)
A page from "A manual of the dissection of the human body" (1851) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)
A page from "The dissector's manual" (1883) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)
A page from "A manual of the dissection of the human body" (1851) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)
A page from “Das neue System der maschinellen Heilgymnastik” (1899) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)
A page from “Quain's elements of anatomy” (1890) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)
A page from “Quain's elements of anatomy” (1890) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)
A page from “The surgeon's pocket-book” (1875) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)
A page from “The surgeon's pocket-book” (1875) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)
A page from “Handbuch der Knochenlehre des Menschen” (1855) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)
A page from “Hand-book of physiology” (1860) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)
A page from “Anthropological studies in the strange sexual practises of all races in all ages ” (1933) (Credit: Wellcome Library/archive.org)