Coming Soon
A comprehensive digital reconstruction of William Cullen's personal medical library, based primarily on the 1792 auction catalogue of his books and supplemented by manuscript sources, marginalia studies, and correspondence.
Database Contents
Complete bibliographic records including:
- Full titles and imprints
- Authors and editors
- Publication dates and places
- Edition information
- Languages
- Auction lot numbers (from 1792 catalogue)
- Estimated values and sale prices
- Current library locations (where known)
- Subject classifications
Search and Discovery Features
- Full-text search across all bibliographic fields
- Filter by subject area (anatomy, chemistry, materia medica, practice, etc.)
- Filter by language (Latin, English, French, German, etc.)
- Filter by publication date to trace Cullen's acquisition patterns
- Sort by any field (chronological, alphabetical, by price, etc.)
- Subject clustering to reveal Cullen's areas of concentration
- Timeline view showing his library's growth over time
- Network analysis of authors and intellectual connections
The 1792 Sale Catalogue
Following William Cullen's death in 1790, his library was sold at auction in Edinburgh. The sale catalogue, published in 1792, provides an invaluable window into the intellectual resources available to one of the eighteenth century's most influential physicians.
Why This Library Matters
Cullen's library reveals:
- His intellectual formation - Which books shaped his medical theories?
- Teaching resources - What did he recommend to students?
- Research methods - How did he stay current with European medical literature?
- Book collecting patterns - What subjects did he prioritize?
- Networks of exchange - Which authors sent him presentation copies?
- The state of medical knowledge circa 1790
Beyond the Sale Catalogue
The database integrates additional sources to provide a more complete picture:
Manuscript evidence:
- References in Cullen's correspondence
- Citations in his lecture notes
- Mentions in student notebooks
- Book loans documented in letters
Marginalia studies:
- Surviving copies with Cullen's annotations
- His reading notes and commonplace books
- Cross-references in his manuscripts
Comparative collections:
- Joseph Black's library (his close colleague)
- William Hunter's library
- Other contemporary Edinburgh medical libraries
Subject Distribution (Preliminary Analysis)
Based on initial catalogue analysis:
- Practical medicine & clinical texts: ~35%
- Anatomy & physiology: ~15%
- Chemistry & natural philosophy: ~20%
- Materia medica & pharmacology: ~12%
- Medical history & biography: ~8%
- General literature & classics: ~10%
Notable Holdings
Important medical texts Cullen owned:
- Boerhaave's Institutiones Medicae (multiple editions)
- Haller's Elementa Physiologiae
- Linnaeus's botanical works
- Sydenham's Opera Omnia
- Contemporary works on chemistry by Lavoisier and others
Languages represented:
- Latin (predominant, ~45%)
- English (~40%)
- French (~10%)
- German, Italian, Dutch (~5%)
Research Applications
This database enables:
- Studies of book circulation in Enlightenment Scotland
- Analysis of medical curriculum development
- Tracking the reception of continental medical ideas
- Understanding the material basis of Cullen's teaching
- Comparative studies of medical practitioners' libraries
Related Resources
Other 18th-century medical library catalogues:
- Joseph Black's Library (Edinburgh University Special Collections)
- William Hunter's Library (University of Glasgow)
- John Fothergill's Library
Digital book history projects:
Technical Details
Data structure:
- Each book entry linked to modern bibliographic standards (where possible)
- ESTC (English Short Title Catalogue) references
- Links to digital copies where available
- Provenance tracking for surviving copies
Visualization features:
- Publication timeline showing acquisition patterns
- Geographic distribution of publishers
- Author network graphs
- Subject clustering analysis
Current Holdings
Several volumes from Cullen's library survive in various collections:
- Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
- Edinburgh University Library Special Collections
- National Library of Scotland
- Private collections
Where possible, these are being documented with:
- Shelf marks and current locations
- High-resolution images of title pages and marginalia
- Transcriptions of Cullen's notes
Database Status
Current progress:
- ✅ 1792 catalogue digitized and transcribed
- ⏳ Bibliographic verification in progress
- ⏳ Cross-referencing with manuscript sources
- ⏳ Identifying surviving copies
- ⏳ Interface design and development
Target launch: Late 2026
Further Reading
- Emerson, Roger L. "Science and the Origins and Concerns of the Scottish Enlightenment." History of Science 26 (1988): 333-366.
- Doig, Andrew, J.P.S. Ferguson, I.A. Milne, and R. Passmore, eds. William Cullen and the Eighteenth Century Medical World. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993.
For information about contributing catalogue records or images of books from Cullen's library, please contact me.