The word 'pamphlet' comes from a 780 line 12th century Latin comedic play. Bet you didn't know that!
The play was called Pamphilus de amore and focuses on Pamphilus who seeks to woo Galatea. This small work was issued without any covers. This meant that the popular poem could be easily and widely copied and circulated in the form of a small slim booklet. Pamphilus was being read in England, France, Italy and Spain and by the early 13th century the word 'pamphlet' was being used in Middle English to describe a small thin book with no cover on or about a particular topic.
With over 6,000 pamphlets in our Heritage Collections, a large scale cataloguing project was undertaken and is still ongoing to make them available online. By clicking here you will be brought to the RCSI Heritage Collection online catalogue hierarchical browser. If you scroll down and click on the + beside the word PAMP the full extent of all that has been catalogued so far will become evident.
Big names from the history of medicine all over the world are present in this collection. John and William Hunter, Alexander Munro (Secundus), Jesse Foot, John Houston, Sir Charles Cameron, Benjamin Rush to name but a small few. New developments, theories, surgical practices, research findings and rebukes are all covered.
The 1,700 pamphlets that have so far been catalogued are waiting to be discovered, read and researched by you! If having looked at our online catalogue and discovered some juicy pamphlet you just have to consult, feel free to contact the Heritage Collections, make an appointment and come pay us a visit.
- Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy
The play was called Pamphilus de amore and focuses on Pamphilus who seeks to woo Galatea. This small work was issued without any covers. This meant that the popular poem could be easily and widely copied and circulated in the form of a small slim booklet. Pamphilus was being read in England, France, Italy and Spain and by the early 13th century the word 'pamphlet' was being used in Middle English to describe a small thin book with no cover on or about a particular topic.
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| Pamphlet dated 1755 (RCSI/PAMP/8c) |
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| Pamphlet by Charles Marie de la Condamine (RCSI/Pamp/16a) |
With over 6,000 pamphlets in our Heritage Collections, a large scale cataloguing project was undertaken and is still ongoing to make them available online. By clicking here you will be brought to the RCSI Heritage Collection online catalogue hierarchical browser. If you scroll down and click on the + beside the word PAMP the full extent of all that has been catalogued so far will become evident.
Big names from the history of medicine all over the world are present in this collection. John and William Hunter, Alexander Munro (Secundus), Jesse Foot, John Houston, Sir Charles Cameron, Benjamin Rush to name but a small few. New developments, theories, surgical practices, research findings and rebukes are all covered.
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| A pamphlet from 1735 rebuking a 'pompous book' by William Cheseldon (RCSI/PAMP/109f) |
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| A pamphlet about madness by a man called Battie! |
The 1,700 pamphlets that have so far been catalogued are waiting to be discovered, read and researched by you! If having looked at our online catalogue and discovered some juicy pamphlet you just have to consult, feel free to contact the Heritage Collections, make an appointment and come pay us a visit.
- Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy