Druids and Drugs in the Trade Literature of Burroughs Wellcome and Co

Studies of Sir Henry Wellcome (1853-1936) have often compartmentalised his life into his business career and his collecting activities.  These accounts have helped to give an impression – which Wellcome himself was keen to promote – of a separation of the work of Burroughs Wellcome & Co (the pharmaceutical company he co-founded, BW&Co) and the enormous collection of historical artefacts he collected.  One particular source that shows the overlapping nature of these activities was the trade literature produced by BW&Co for the medical profession.  Circulated both in Britain and across its Empire, this paper will examine examples of this literature as circulating ‘medical objects’ which stand for both the modernity and success of Wellcome’s growing multinational business and also his interests in the antiquity and origins of different healing traditions.

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Ross MacFarlane is a Research Development Specialist at Wellcome Collection. A professional archivist by background, since 2010 Ross has led on projects promoting Wellcome’s library, particularly to academic audiences.  He has researched, lectured and written on a range of topics stemming from Wellcome’s collections and presented at a range of conferences and workshops.  Publications include articles and reviews for magazines and journals such as The Lancet, Notes and Records of the Royal Society, Folklore and Fortean Times. His most recent publication is a contribution on the ‘fossil hunter’ Mary Annning in Women in the History of Science: A Sourcebook (UCL Press, 2023).