Historical Medical Images of Surgery at Wellcome
Illustrations of Surgical Operations, 16th - 19th century
Oct 5, 2009
Wellcome Images are one of nine collections on the history of medicine held in the Wellcome Library in London, UK. The library of the Wellcome Trust holds collections of European manuscripts and archives; rare books; history of medicine resources; paintings, prints and drawings; images; Asian manuscripts and books and international medical literature. There are over 160,000 historical medical images available in the Wellcome Images collection:
- Illustrations from manuscripts and rare books
- Paintings in oil or watercolour
- Prints
- Engravings
- Photographs
Images are available for free download for personal, academic teaching or study use, under the Creative Commons licences.
Historical Images of Surgery
The Wellcome Images collection is searchable online. The search for surgery yields 1272 results of medical images of surgery-related themes: surgical operations, surgical instruments, notebooks on surgery, anatomical images. The images come mainly from rare books and manuscripts illustrations, oil paintings and engravings. These include:
- Eye or ophthalmic surgery
- Leg surgery or amputation
- Mastectomy
- Head surgery
- Tooth extractions
- Surgical instruments
The historical illustrations of surgical procedures come from various sources including books and manuscripts by
- Bartisch, the founder of modern ophthalmology, 1583;
- Paracelsus, the 16thC alchemist, physician and astrologer
- Hans von Gersdof, the famous 16thC surgeon
- Jacques Guillemeau, the 17thC French pioneer in eye surgery;
- Sir Charles Bell (1774-1842), the Scottish surgeon, physician and anatomist;
- The popular medicine and surgery compendium, or Arzneibuch, compiled for the use of Franciscan monks in Austria or south Germany in 1675;
- Ambroise Paré, the 16thC French royal surgeon and surgical techniques pioneer
The historical images of surgery which are part of the Wellcome Images come from a time that anaesthesia was non-existent and surgical operations were performed on fully aware patients. Some viewers may find these illustrations distressing.
Artists of Historical Medical Illustrations of Surgery
Artists of these medical illustrations or paintings include Johann Heinrich Ramberg, the 18thC German painter and printmaker; Thomas Rowlnadson, the 19thC English artist and caricaturist; Ambroise Paré, the 16thC surgeon who left an extensive collection of surgical instrument illustrations; Johannes Scultetus, the 17thC German doctor; Charles Bell, the first professor of anatomy in the Royal College of Surgeon in London in 1824.
Wellcome Historical Images Reproduction Fees
The images can be downloaded freely for personal and teaching or study purposes. Fees apply for larger electronic files and prints. Prices in 2009 start from £5.75 for a 7x5in print and from £2.88 for an electronic file. For those wishing to publish or broadcast an image, prices can be negotiated according to usage.
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