Selected historical collections in the field of the history of medicine and pharmacy in the contemporary museum collections and scientific libraries of Istanbul. Part one
In the collections of Turkish public scientific institutions, museums and libraries, there are extensive resources of historical artifacts connected thematically with the history of medicine and pharmacy. They include mainly manuscript books in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and also in Greek and Latin, which were gathered in the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The historical and medical collections contain also numerous printed books, including critical editions of the work by the classic authors of Islamic medicine together with their translations into congressional languages. In Istanbul, we can also fi nd numerous examples of various types of devices and equipment used in connection with the treatment and production of medicines. The article consists of two parts. The first part presents the outline of the history of the evelopment of historical collections in Istanbul connected with the history of medicine and pharmacy. The second part describes selected museum facilities and collections.
H J M Symons, H R Denham (comps), A catalogue of printed books in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library, vol. 4, Books printed from 1641 to 1850 M-R, London, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 1995, pp xiii, 603, £45.00 (1-869835-75-1).
