Despite William Hunter's stature as one of the most important collectors and men of science of the eighteenth century, and the fact that his collection is the foundation of Scotland's oldest public museum, The Hunterian, until now there has been no comprehensive examination in a single volume of all his collections in their diversity. This volume restores Hunter to a rightful position of prominence among the medical men whose research and amassing of specimens transformed our understanding of the natural world and man's position within it. This volume comprises essays by international specialists and are as diverse as Hunter's collections themselves, dealing as they do with material that ranges from medical and scientific specimens, to painting, prints, books and manuscripts. The first sections focus upon Hunter's own collection and his response to it, while the final section contextualises Hunter within the wider sphere. A special feature of the volume is the inclusion of references to the Hunterian's web pages and on-line databases. These enable searches for items from Hunter's collections, both from his museum and library. Locating Hunter's collecting within the broader context of his age and environment, this book provides an original approach to a man and collection whose importance has yet to be comprehensively assessed.

This book describes the life and achievements of the eighteenth-century Scottish physician William Hunter and outlines the history of the Museum named after him. William Hunter built up a wide-ranging private collection at his home in London, encompassing not only anatomical and pathological specimens related to his medical work, but also books and manuscripts, coins and medals, natural history specimens and artworks. On his death in 1783 he bequeathed the collection to the University of Glasgow where he had long ago been a student, and money to construct a Museum which opened in 1807. The book utilises a wide range of source material, much of it previously unpublished, to tell the story of the Museum's development, the many subsequent additions to its holdings and, more recently, the construction of a new Hunterian Art Gallery which houses not only Hunter's own collection but also numerous works be James McNeill Whistler and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The Museum is celebrating its bicentenary in 2007.There is a foreward contributed by Sir Kenneth Calman, Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, and formerly Government Chief Medical Officer and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Durham

Born in Scotland, Dr William Hunter (1718-83) pursued an extensive medical education in Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and Paris. He settled in London where he made his name as an anatomist and obstetrician before being elected to the Royal Society in 1767. This book presents all of his known correspondence, drawing upon archives around the world.