Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

Edinburgh has a wealth of medical collections, thanks not only to its role in the Enlightenment and the diaspora of graduates from the large medical school, but also to recent developments in medical heritage. Concentrating on the collections of the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomy Department and Surgeons’ Hall Museums at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, this paper charts the complex and connected histories of the material culture of anatomy, pathology and surgery in the city.

The Maclagans were a Scots family from humble origins who produced famous physicians and surgeons (two of them presidents of Royal Colleges), ministers of religion (including one archbishop and several missionaries), a director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, a famous anthropologist, many army officers, a leading Oxford historian, several town mayors and politicians.