Heritage Collections - Historic
Books Collection
Historic Books - General Introduction
Contents
The Royal College of General Practitioners is
only fifty years old, but in the early days of the College many
members donated books of great general interest. A major assessment
in 1997 led to some duplicate and lesser books in poor condition
being sold, with the proceeds being used to fund a conservation
programme for the core collection.
Compared to many other medical libraries, the
collection is tiny, comprising some 500 books dating from 1668
right up until the creation of the College in 1952. The
Historic Books collection is separate from The Geoffrey Evans
Reference Library of the College which contains more modern
material including over 6,000 books, 200 theses and a journal
collection of over 250 titles.
The small but select collection of medical
classics reflects the fact that until the second half of the
nineteenth century and the emergence of medical specialism, such
was the variety of tasks carried out by most doctors that all were
in some sense generalist and most medical books were relevant to
their work. By the turn of the century and the creation of National
Insurance, and later the NHS, general practice started to create
its own literature, and this collection is a unique one for early
twentieth century books relating to the emerging disciplines of
general practice, public health and education.
See also: