Royal Edinburgh Asylum Medical Library
Scope and Contents
Annual Reports of Asylums 1814-1908; General Board of Commissioners in Lunacy and General Board of Control Reports 1851-1939; printed journals and books 1823-1946
Dates
- Creation: 1814-1939
Language of Materials
English.
Conditions Governing Access
None
Biographical / Historical
The earliest reference to books being borrowed from a specifically medical as opposed to a patients' library at the Royal Edinburgh Asylum occurs in 1855, and it is reasonable to assume that it was founded around that time. This coincides with an increased emphasis placed on clinical teaching by the Asylum's Resident Physician, Dr David Skae (1814-1873). The majority of the library was transferred to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital Library, with remaining items going to Edinburgh University's Department of Psychiatry Library.
Extent
56 shelf metres: bound volumes
Arrangement
Chronological within record class
Other Finding Aids
Manual item-level descriptive lists and card index available
Custodial History
Items held within Royal Edinburgh Hospital
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Royal Edinburgh Hospital
Accruals
No further accessions are expected
- Title
- Royal Edinburgh Asylum Medical Library
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Lothian Health Services Archive Repository
Centre for Research Collections
Edinburgh University Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44 (0)131 650 3392
lhsa@ed.ac.uk