The Cullen Project 2.0: Enhanced Digital Archive

Coming Soon

An enhanced, reimagined version of the pioneering Cullen Project — offering new search capabilities, aggregate analytics, corrected metadata, and an improved user interface for exploring the correspondence and manuscripts of William Cullen.

What is the Cullen Project?

The original Cullen Project, launched by the University of Glasgow and Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, digitized and transcribed thousands of letters and manuscripts by and to William Cullen (1710-1790). It remains one of the most important digital humanities resources for studying eighteenth-century medicine and the Scottish Enlightenment.

Original project includes:

1,500+ letters
Lecture notes and manuscripts
Medical case notes
Student dissertations

What's New in Version 2.0

This complementary platform enhances the original resource with:

1. Advanced Search Capabilities

Beyond simple keyword search:

Full-text search with Boolean operators
Fuzzy matching for name variations
Date range filtering (by decade, year, month)
Search by correspondent
Search by place (sender/recipient locations)
Search by subject/topic tags
Combined filters for complex queries

Example queries:

"All letters between Cullen and Joseph Black discussing chemistry in the 1760s"
"Correspondence about specific patients or medical cases"
"Letters mentioning specific books or authors"

2. Aggregate Analytics & Visualizations

Network Analysis:

Interactive network graphs of Cullen's correspondents
Identify key intermediaries and communities
Temporal evolution of his network (1740s-1790s)
Geographic distribution of correspondents

Timeline Views:

Correspondence frequency over time
Topic trends across decades
Gaps in the archive
Clustering of activity around key events

Statistical Dashboards:

Most frequent correspondents
Letter length distributions
Response time patterns
Geographic reach over time

3. Enhanced Metadata & Corrections

Improvements to original data:

Corrected misdated letters
Fixed broken internal links
Enhanced biographical information for correspondents
Standardized name authorities (linked to VIAF where possible)
Added subject/topic classifications
Cross-references to related letters

4. New Discovery Features

Topic Modeling:

Automatic subject clustering across the corpus
Track evolution of medical terminology
Identify recurring themes and concerns

Entity Recognition:

People, places, books mentioned
Medical conditions and treatments
Chemicals and materia medica

Citation Network:

Which books/authors are discussed most?
How do citation patterns change over time?

Geographic Mapping:

Interactive map showing correspondence networks
Trade routes and information flows
Centers of medical practice

5. Improved User Experience

Modern interface:

Responsive design for mobile/tablet
Faster load times
Intuitive filtering and sorting
Bookmarking and annotation (for registered users)
Export search results (CSV, JSON)
Stable URLs for citing specific letters

Reading tools:

Side-by-side manuscript image and transcription
Adjustable text size
Dark mode support
Print-friendly views

Relationship to Original Cullen Project

This is a complementary resource, not a replacement.

The original Cullen Project remains the authoritative source for:

High-resolution manuscript images
Original transcriptions
Critical apparatus
Editorial notes

Cullen Project 2.0 enhances discoverability and analysis by:

Providing alternative search interfaces
Enabling computational analysis
Correcting errors found since publication
Adding new analytical tools

All credit and citations should reference the original Cullen Project.

The Original Project Team

The Cullen Project was created by:

University of Glasgow
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Funded by the Wellcome Trust

We are deeply grateful for their pioneering work in making these materials accessible.

Technical Approach

Data sources:

Complete export of Cullen Project database
Supplementary manuscript transcriptions
Enhanced metadata from recent scholarship

Technologies:

Modern full-text search (Elasticsearch)
Network analysis (Python/NetworkX)
Interactive visualizations (D3.js)
Mapping (Leaflet)
Topic modeling (MALLET/Gensim)

Known Issues in Original (Being Addressed)

Some issues identified in the original platform:

Broken internal links between related letters
Incomplete date information for some correspondence
Inconsistent name forms for correspondents
Limited search functionality (exact phrase matching only)
No bulk download or API access

All of these are being addressed in version 2.0.

Research Applications

Enhanced search and analytics enable new research into:

Medical history:

Tracing the spread of specific medical theories
Understanding patient-doctor relationships
Studying medical education networks

History of science:

Chemistry and natural philosophy discussions
Reception of European scientific ideas
Role of correspondence in knowledge production

Social history:

Patronage networks
Family relationships
Economic aspects of medical practice

Digital humanities methodology:

Testing tools for correspondence analysis
Developing best practices for legacy data enhancement
Creating reusable infrastructure for letter collections

Sample Use Cases

Researcher: "Show me all letters where Cullen discusses his nosological system"

Full-text search for relevant terminology
Filter by date to track evolution
Generate timeline of key discussions

Student: "Who were Cullen's most important correspondents in chemistry?"

Network graph filtered by topic
Ranked list with letter counts
Links to relevant correspondence

Genealogist: "Find all mentions of the Cullen family in Edinburgh"

Search for family members
Geographic filter for Edinburgh
Timeline of family events

Project Status

Current progress:

✅ Complete data export from original Cullen Project
✅ Database redesign and enhancement underway
⏳ Metadata corrections in progress
⏳ Search infrastructure development
⏳ Visualization tools implementation
⏳ User interface design

Target launch: 2026