@rcpmuseum.bsky.social
The Royal College of Physicians museum, heritage library, archive & garden in Regent's Park | History, medicine, art & modernist architecture | Exhibitions & events
Hi! Sharing my call out for participants for my PhD research. Looking for women involved in care/ and or activism during the AIDS crisis in UK or US! #research #aids #women #feminism #phd #callforparticipants #interview #history
10.12.2025 22:21 — 👍 0 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 0
Very excited for this evening's online @rcpmuseum.bsky.social event 📚 After a tour of the current bookish exhibition by @girlinthe.bsky.social, @awickenden.bsky.social will talk about libraries, and I will talk about some Arabic books. Get your ticket here ➡️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-body-of-...
09.12.2025 08:22 — 👍 6 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0Have you booked for our cosy, fragrant & tasty evening yet?
Join us on 17 Dec for 'Teas form the Garden' a seasonal workshop to learn about, taste & create your own herbal tea blends guided by an expert from the @rcphysicians.bsky.social Garden.
Book 👉 rcp_teas_from_the_garden.eventbrite.co.uk
A reminder to book for the (online) @rcpmuseum.bsky.social Winter Lectures next Tuesday! a guided tour of the exhibition by @girlinthe.bsky.social, a lecture on Lancelot Browne and Arabic books by @samuscript.bsky.social, and a lecture from me on libraries 📚 history.rcp.ac.uk/event/body-k...
05.12.2025 17:05 — 👍 7 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0
A handwritten survey response from Trinidad, dated 1829. One sentence reads: ‘Of native doctors we may say we have not any except old women who deal in simples.’
These 1829 surveys show how British colonial doctors in Latin America helped destroy inclusive indigenous medical practises, in which gender and wealth played no role. In Britain, only wealthy men could be doctors.
#ExploreArchives #EYAInclusion
A double page spread from a 17th century handwritten recipe book, including a remedy for ‘gravel’ (urinary tract stones) shared with Sarah Wigges by Mr Speed.
#EarlyModern recipe books reflect collective medical knowledge. Anyone of any gender, ethnicity, or status could practise medicine. But the founding of the RCP in 1518 was an attempt to stamp out this inclusive culture and ensure that only wealthy men could be doctors
#ExploreArchives #EYAInclusion
A Victorian scrapbook containing drawings of dissected body parts, bugs, and other items.
A handwritten poem about a squirrel, written in 1829.
Dr Pye-Smith’s scrapbook includes an ode by James Hadfield to Jack Squrriel, one of many pets he had while held in Bethlem for trying to assassinate George III. The British state would rather criminalise those with mental health conditions than support them in the community
#ExploreArchives #EYAPets
Eighteenth century handwritten medical recipes
Eighteenth century handwritten medical recipes
Dog health in #EarlyModern recipe books! The 6th recipe down in the 1st image asserts that ox blood poured into an open wound ‘cureth ye scabs in dogs,’ and the treatment for mange involves train oil (from whales), soap, gunpowder, and flower of brimstone (sulphur)
#ExploreArchives #EYAPets
In oral history recordings, silence can be as powerful as the words it punctuates. In this emotional clip, former RCP president Andrew Goddard speaks about losing his friend and colleague, Donal O’Donoghue, to #COVID.
#ExploreArchives #EYASilence
👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/exhibitions/...
Official written documents relating to HIV/AIDS from the 1980s and 1990s
The first mention of #HIV/AIDS in RCP minutes is 6 years after the first AIDS-related death in Britain. The RCPs silence helped the state take advantage of the epidemic to spread fear, introduce queerphobic policies, and cut services such as healthcare
#ExploreArchives #EYASilence
A leaflet titled 'AIDS Don’t die of Ignorance' from 1987 recently donated to the RCP archive.
1 December 2025 marks the 37th #WorldAIDSDay. The @rcphysicians.bsky.social Archives, Heritage Library & Museum Collections continue to seek donations of material relating to the history of HIV/AIDS.
Find out about recent donations & interviews 👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/world-a...
Cure your spots, clear your warts & check who's wearing make up - 17th C style!
Discover these fascinating instructions in one of RCPs hand-written recipe books with Archive Manager Pamela Forde.
👉 youtu.be/vSo5-BeuYz0?...
Not animal friendly - don't try at home!
#EYABeauty #ExploreYourArchive
These beautiful plant drawings were made by an unnamed Chinese artist, possibly at the behest of colonialist John Bradby Blake in 1771-2. Ordinary sticky tape is a nightmare for archives, but acid-free repair tape can be used to patch up torn pages.
#ExploreArchives #EYAConservation
It’s hard to remove archives safely from envelopes that open at 1 end. We’re repackaging with 4-flap folders that can be opened without damaging the contents. These letters from Eugène Dupuy to Charles Édouard Brown-Séquard can now be accessed more easily & safely
#ExploreArchives #EYAConservation
A photo of Dr Alice Wickenden, a white woman with short brown hair and glasses wearing a black and white jumper.
Dr Alice Wickenden, Early Career Fellow, University of Cambridge, will discuss 'Moving libraries: from the personal to the institutional'
How do we approach entwined histories of donations & the trade of enslaved people?
What do we owe to the past?
What does it mean to perpetuate a name?
A photo of Samantha Brown a white woman with shoulder-length brown hair standing next to a presentation screen showing a text annotated in Arabic.
Samantha Brown, doctoral researcher @ucl.ac.uk explores 'Islamic knowledge in an Elizabethan physician’s library: Lancelot Browne and his Arabic books'.
What were the benefits to learning Arabic at that time?
What kind of impact did England’s relationship with the Arabic-speaking world have?
A photo of Katie Birkwood, a white woman with short dark hair, holding open a beautiful annotated text.
The evening will begin with a virtual tour of exhibition ‘A body of knowledge’ with rare books & special collections librarian, & lead curator of the exhibition, Katie Birkwood @girlinthe.bsky.social. Discover 500 years of book collecting at the RCP.
28.11.2025 16:38 — 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
The interior of a display case in exhibition 'A body of knowledge' showing a mix of open and closed books with information labels.
Have you booked our 9 Dec virtual lectures evening?
Join 3 expert speakers inspired by recent research into how we investigate the history of libraries like the collections of @rcphysicians.bsky.social.
Book👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/.../body-kno...
#BodyOfKnowledge #LibraryHistory
More details below👇
A compilation of four photos showing physicians who feature in the blog.
Like any other professional group, physicians experience illness or disability. Explore the representation of physicians who have experienced illness or disability from various eras within the RCP collections👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/explori...
#disabilityhistorymonth @rcphysicians.bsky.social
A conservator works delicately with a paintbrush on one of the RCP paintings.
The open title page of a book by Thomas Linacre.
Close up of the hand of a conservator using a brush to repair a gold leaf frame.
A rare 19th century print of 'A history of vaccination' with the word 'Jenner' large in the centre. Painted by Stephen Jenner, the nephew of Dr Edward Jenner
For over 500 years, the @rcphysicians.bsky.social has been collecting treasures of medicine – from early anatomy texts, to physicians’ portraits & rare instruments.
Through the new Adopt a Treasure campaign, help us fund the conservation of rare & significant items.
👉 www.rcp.ac.uk/support-us/p...
Team vote for number four here! Ah Mondays . . . .
24.11.2025 11:45 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Print of an adult walrus and two pups on a rock in the sea with polar bears and ice in the backdrop from William Jardine's Naturalist's Library of 1838.
24 November is #WorldWalrusDay. These dapper examples are from William Jardine's Naturalist's Library of 1838. The book describes how the animals' 'coating of oily fat' (blubber) enables them to 'repose on their icy beds without inconvenience'.
Anyone else got a good walrus to share? #RareBooks
Book now for your chance to see the incredible Wilton Psalter up close & create your own illuminated letter in our workshop on Sat 29 Nov.
Join artist Sarah Davis to create your own beautiful letter complete with 23ct gold leaf!
👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/event/illumi...
@rcphysicians.bsky.social #histmed
Close up of an anatomical table displaying a dissected human nervous system.
Frankenstein Myth Busting!
Have you seen Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, and are you wondering how much is rooted in actual medical history? Let’s have a closer look in our latest blog:
history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/franken...
*Warning! Contains spoilers!*
@rcphysicians.bsky.social #Histmed
A flyer titled 'Teas form the Garden' surrounded by colourful dried herbs
A cup of her tea being poured into a tea cup.
On 17 Dec from 6pm, join the RCP Garden team for an evening of tea tasting & blending featuring ingredients in the Medicinal Garden. Inspired by recipe books in the RCP archives & led by expert gardeners create a blend to take home or give as a festive gift!
Book 👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/event/teas-g...
For #FragmentFriday: fragments of a pocket Breviary with musical notation, 13th century, @rcpmuseum.bsky.social MS777/91, removed from the Paris 1570 edition of Gregory's Decretals.
See them in the current exhibition #BodyOfKnowledge: history.rcp.ac.uk/exhibitions/...
A close up of Sarah Davis' hands as she paints an illuminated letter
Photo of artist Sarah Davis at her workbench
Inspired by the Psalter, on 29 November join artist Sarah Davis for an all day practical workshop to create your own illuminated letter to take home or give as a festive gift.
Discover an array of medieval techniques & materials, including 23ct gold leaf!
Book👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/event/illumi...
A page from the Wilton Psalter showing a beautifully illuminated capital letter.
An illuminated letter created using the Wilton Psalter as inspiration
The oldest European book in our collection is the stunning illuminated Wilton Psalter made for the nuns at Wilton Abbey in c.1250, likely by the monastic scriptorium in nearby Salisbury Cathedral.
Each of the 150 Psalms from the Christian Bible begins with a large illuminated initial letter.
Image of a poster with picture of medicine jars on shelves and text 'Representing medicine in the past' Wednesday 4 February 2026 5:30-7.45pm at RSM, London or online.
image of a poster showing a treatment room with blue walls containing medical equipment and a radiator. This advertises presentation 'Histories of Medical care in prisons'. Wednesday 14 January 2026 5:30-7:35pm at RSM London or online.
Sharing forthcoming @roysocmed.bsky.social events (in person and online).
Just search 'medicine' on the events page to find out more about these events in January and February and others
www.rsm.ac.uk/events/
Please note fees may apply.
#histmed #histSTM #medhumanities
Visitors examine the portrait and some of the covered books that feature in Making Visible.
A woman leans over the a display case containing open books in the exhibition.
Explore striking art installation Making Visible by doctoral researcher Catherine James & exhibition 'A body of knowledge' Mon 10 Nov. With an exclusive intro from Harveian Librarian Anita Simonds @anitaks.bsky.social!
👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/event/making...
@rcphysicians.bsky.social #BodyOfKnowledge
