At the royal college of Physicians
and surgeons of Glasgow
and surgeons of Glasgow
The College’s library dates to 1698 when the relatively young institution had its first premises. When the College moved to this building on St Vincent Street in 1862 it converted two rooms into this large library. With this new accomodation the library was to expand, both in its provision of the latest medical literature, and in its coverage of ancient medical texts. Much of this development of the collection was supervised by Alexander Duncan, librarian from 1865 to 1921. A comprehensive printed catalogue was produced in 1888 and updated in 1896.
One interesting item of hte library catalogue is John James Audubon’s Birds of America. This book used to be available to members and fellows of the College to look through in the lower library, but it is now on display in the College's Reading Room.