Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
Glasgow, Scotland G2 5RJ
United Kingdom
Fax: +44 141 221 1804
The College was founded in 1599 and the Library in 1698. The Library provides a service to Fellows and Members and all interested in the history of medicine, particularly in Glasgow and the West of Scotland. Written, email and fax requests are welcome. The library's online catalogue is available at http://knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/home/library-search.aspx . Please note that currently about a third of the College's total holdings of approximately 31,500 volumes are available on the online catalogue. The Library is open from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm Monday - Friday. Visitors are requested to make an appointment.
The College Library contains many of the key medical, anatomical and surgical texts of the 16th and 17th centuries, being particularly strong in the areas of anatomy, medicine, surgery, botany and materia medica in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The library of Dr William Mackenzie (1791-1868), founder of the Glasgow Eye Infirmary is held as a separate collection. There are, as a consequence, good holdings in historical material relating to the diseases and surgery of the eye. Local historians are well served by the Glasgow Collection consisting of works relating to the history of Glasgow and the West of Scotland. There are just over 100 archive collections including the papers of Sir Ronald Ross (1857-1932), Sir William Macewen (1848-1924) and Dr William Mackenzie (1791-1868).