Built up over a period of more than 500 years by purchase, gift and bequest, the collections now contain more than 200,000 manuscript items and around 200,000 printed works, including over 1,000 incunabula. Holdings relating to medicine are particularly extensive, encompassing medieval manuscripts, early printed books, eighteenth century drawings and modern papers. Highlights include the eighteenth century library of the esteemed physician and man-midwife, William Hunter, and the papers of the psychiatrist R D Laing.
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