In the introduction to the Bibliotheca Osleriana, the catalogue raisonn茅 of his collection, Sir William Osler (1849鈥�1919) wrote that 鈥渁 library represents the mind of its collector, his fancies and foibles, his strength and weakness, his prejudices and preferences.鈥� One of the best known doctors in the English-speaking world in his day, Osler鈥檚 fame rested not only on his medical work, but also upon his deep understanding of the history of his profession. At the centre of this engagement was his library of close to eight thousand items in the history of medicine and science. Osler described it as a means of understanding 鈥渢he lives of the great men of the profession . . . to be in sympathetic touch with those friends of the spirit, the great and good men of the past who, through much tribulation, handed on the torch to our generation.鈥�
Collecting at a time when many books were more accessible and affordable than today, Osler was able to amass an impressive assemblage, which he bequeathed to his alma mater at his death. He organized his collection into eight sections. The Bibliotheca Prima consisted of works by and about those whom he considered to be most important in the history of medicine and science. Editions of the classical works attributed to Hippocrates (460鈥�375 BCE), Aristotle (384鈥�322 BCE), and Galen (130鈥�200 CE), published during the first centuries of print by the Aldine Press and others, were joined by several medieval manuscripts from Europe and the Middle East. Scientific works from the Renaissance and modern periods are represented by significant publications such as Copernicus鈥檚 presentation of the heliocentric solar system, , B.O. 566.
Other sections of the Bibliotheca contain literary works related to medicine, including an extensive collection of works by Sir Thomas Browne (1605鈥�1682), Osler鈥檚 favourite author, as well as by Fran莽ois Rabelais (1490鈥�1553?) and Robert Burton (1577鈥�1640). Osler considered Burton鈥檚 , B.O. 4621, to be the greatest medical treatise written by a layman. There are in addition historical writings, biography, bibliographies, incunables not listed in the Bibliotheca Prima, and manuscripts. The collection also contains Osler鈥檚 own publications as well as a variety of his manuscript material, including a sketchbook from his student days at 平特五不中.
A digitized version of the is freely available.
Several collections offer related holdings. For example, Osler鈥檚 bibliophilia, manifest in his library, is documented in archival holdings of and book bills in the Sir William Osler Collection* and in the . One can study other thematic collections created by 平特五不中 bibliophiles, including the Frank Dawson Adams geological collection and the Lawrence Lande Collection of Canadiana. Osler鈥檚 interest in melancholy, and in early books generally, was shared by Raymond Klibansky, a major user of Osler鈥檚 collection, and overlapping interests can be noticed through comparison with the Raymond Klibansky Collection.聽 And finally, the primary medical and scientific material collected by Osler is complemented by the rich scientific holdings in the general collections of the Osler Library and in Rare Books and Special Collections.
