Fundraising
Medical chest of King George V
Charriére Company 1866 Inventory
Because museums have valuable collections, people often think that they have plenty of money; this is often not the case and the opportunity to purchase further artefacts, exhibits or manuscripts frequently arise at short notice because most items are sold at auction. The Friends Committee thought it would be useful to set up a fund to make money available for such purchases.
This started in January 2005 when we launched an appeal to our members for donations to get the fund started, together with a bookstall and historical book raffle at all Friends events and at the History of Medicine Lectures organised by Prof Monty Losowsky during the winter months. Also four of us offered ourselves as “Itinerant Lecturers” willing to travel the county to talk on a variety of historical medical and nursing topics, any fees from these contribute to the fund. Since we started we have raised nearly £5,000 (March 2009) and have been able to make a significant contribution of to the purchase of King George V’s medical chest.
The Charriére Company made French Surgical instruments which were often very elegant with ivory handles, the Museum already had copies of their 19th century catalogues, when their inventory of 1866 became available in 2007 we were able to purchase it for the Library.
Other books bought include:
Culpeper’s Herbal, Folio Society 2007 (Enlarged copy of The English Physician 1653)
The Herbalist: Benjamin Woolley (Biography of Nicholas Culpeper) Harper Perennial 2005
Books donated include:
Essays in Regional and Local History, Swan P & Foster D Editors
The Lunar Men, Jenny Uglow, Faber, 2002
Morbid Anatomy of the Human Body, Matthew Baillie, 1793, Classics of Medicine Library
The Hand, Charles Bell, 1833, Classics of Medicine Library
General Surgery, Pathology and Therapeutics, Theodor Billroth 1871, Classics of Med. Lib.
Artistic Anatomy, Robert Knox, 1852, Classics of Medicine Library
The Boke of Chyldren, Thomas Phaire 1545, The British Paediatric Association
*A Treatise on Poisons, Robert Christison 1836
*The Pocket Formulary for the Treatment of Disease in Children, Ludwig Freyberger 1901
*Notes on Surgery, Dr Caird, University of Edinburgh 1894-5 by Rhodes Haygarth, 2 Vols.
Miscellaneous items:
*Three cased ivory instruments by Unwin & Albert London
*Donated by Dr Douglas D Inch
If you would like to view the recently aquired books, or any other books in our collection, then you can contact the museum Libray and History Resource Centre to arrange an appointment, click here for more details.
