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Monday 10am - 4:30pm Tuesday 10am - 4:30pm Wednesday 10am - 4:30pm Thursday 10am - 4:30pm Friday 10am - 4:30pm

Physicians’ Gallery

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Physicians’ Gallery

A free museum and library exploring the science and humanity of medicine at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

31/08/2026

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Arcana Naturae Detecta (1695)

This is the first drawing ever made of a blood cell. The author of this work, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, was a Dutch draper and lensmaker, as well as a self-taught scientist. He advanced microscope technology enormously, using his technical skills to create incredibly powerful lenses. It was another 150 years before anyone was able to replicate his findings.

Leeuwenhoek was the first to discover single-celled organisms - he identified bacteria, protozoa and s***m cells. He studied coffee beans, orange seeds and elephant skin and examined rotting meat as well as his own faeces, the dirt between his toes and the plaque on his teeth. Leeuwenhoek shared his findings with the Royal Society of London who sent scientists to corroborate his remarkable discoveries.

This book is on display in our temporary exhibition ‘Rag: A History of Blood’.

Find out more 👉 https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag-history-blood

26/08/2026

This image is taken from the work of Francois Rousset, a pioneer of caesarean sections. Rousset was the physician to the Duke of Nemours when he published this book. In it, he recommended performing caesarean sections on living women if every other option had been exhausted. Before Rousset, this procedure had only carried out when the woman had died, in an attempt to save the child - caesareans on living women were seen as too dangerous.

This image is taken from Hysterotomotokia (1588).

[Alt text: the image shows a woman, either dead or unconscious in a slumped position. Her heads is flung back and her arm hangs limply by her side. Her belly is cut open to show the womb and foetus inside.]

24/08/2026

Tancred Robinson
A letter giving an account of one Henry Jenkins a Yorkshire Man who attained the age of 169 years
London, 1696

Dr Tancred Robinson was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London. He was a friend of Hans Sloane and a physician in ordinary to George II. Robinson wrote that ‘tis to be wished that particular enquiries were made and answered concerning the temperament of this man’s body, his manner of living and all other circumstances which might furnish any useful instructions to those who are curious about longevity.’
In this book he writes about Henry Jenkins, who was buried in 1670, and claimed to have been born in 1501. This would mean that he would have been 169 years old when he died.

20/08/2026

Prosthetic Leg (early 1900s)
Prosthetic Leg (2001)

In the early 1900s prosthetic legs were made from leather, metal and wood. This model was tightened using a leather corset and would have been attached to the body with a leather belt. This silicone and plastic leg was made for Natalia - a woman who lost her leg to skin cancer when she was 17. Natalia was a fan of science fiction and asked for this design to match her Star Wars costume which she wore to comic conventions.

Prostheses can now be coated in colour-matched silicone to replicate skin and some even have freckles and veins. These prostheses are designed to blend naturally and to reduce the stigma associated with limb loss. By contrast, designs such as Natalia’s express the character of their users and promote pride and positivity about their uniqueness.

These objects are on permanent display in our Physicians’ Gallery.

19/08/2026

Textile Blood Bags (2010s-2020s)

These bags were created as part of The Blood Bag Project. This craft project was set up by the artist Leigh Bowser with the aim of raising awareness of Diamond Blackfan Anaemia. Leigh’s niece was born with this rare blood condition which affects how red blood cells are made inside the body’s bone marrow. As a result, patients must receive regular blood transfusions to survive. Some patients are also treated with steroids and bone marrow transplants.

Leigh began this project in 2012 and since then over 1,500 bags have been added from all over the world, including Australia, South Korea, Japan and Russia. Some have been made by artists, some by patients and some by school pupils. This art piece is designed to show the importance of donating blood to help people like Leigh’s niece.

These objects are on loan from The Blood Bag Project
These objects are on display in our temporary exhibition ‘Rag: A History of Blood’.

Find out more 👉 https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag-history-blood

18/08/2026

Salomon Trismosin
Splendor Solis. Rorschach am Bodensee, 1598

This is a rare first edition of the Splendor Solis, an alchemical text that contains a series of twenty two hand coloured illustrations showing alchemical processes.

Colour is important as a guide to the stages of making the Philosophers’ Stone.

Firstly, impure metals are placed in a glass vessel with an oval body and a long neck, the ‘Philosopher’s Egg’. The neck is made airtight, often by melting the sides of the neck together. This was called the ‘Seal of Hermes’ (the origin of expression ‘hermetically sealed’). These images show how metals in the Egg change colour when heated. This is symbolically represented by the figure called the ‘peacock’s tail’.

14/08/2026

New podcast episode!

🩸 Barber pole 🩸

This week, we’re exploring the history of barber poles. Were these poles once wrapped in real bloody rags? Were there different coloured poles to show the different procedures that barbers carried out? So many myths and stories, but so little evidence to back it up! But one thing we do know, is that barber poles are bloody fascinating objects.

Listen now 👉 https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/barber-pole

12/08/2026

1700s dentistry techniques included goat dung to make teeth fall out

10/08/2026

Binaural Stethoscope (1983)

The earliest stethoscopes were all monaural (having only one earpiece). The first binaural (two earpiece) stethoscope was invented in the 1850s. It was developed after the arrival of Malaysian rubber in Europe - material which was necessary to create the flexible tubing used in these stethoscopes.

The binaural stethoscope shown here belonged to Professor Angela Thomas, a haematologist. Thomas bought this stethoscope in 1983 while she was working as a medical registrar at the Greenwich District Hospital in London.

This object is on permanent display in our Physicians’ Gallery.

07/08/2026

Free exhibition

If you're in town for check out our exhibition Rag. Exploring the history of blood from transfusions to bloodletting, menstruation to quack medicines

📍 Physicians’ Gallery, 11 Queen Street, EH2 1JQ
📅 Mon – Fri, 10am – 4.30pm
Find out more 👉https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/rag-history-blood

Address

11 Queen Street
Edinburgh
EH21JQ

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	10am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	10am - 4:30pm
Thursday	10am - 4:30pm
Friday	10am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+441312473600

Website

https://linktr.ee/PhysiciansGallery, https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/gallery-library-newsletter

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