Papers of George Langstaff
TitlePapers of George Langstaff
ReferenceMS0056
Level of descriptionfonds
Date1799-1842
Admin./ biographical historyGeorge Langstaff was a Surgeon, Anatomist, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1843). He was one of the original 300 Fellows. He studied medicine in London, and held residence at St. Bartholomew's Hosptial, London. Before settling in practice he made several voyages to the East and West Indies, and became a zealous naturalist and zoologist, laying the foundations of the collection of specimens which afterwards grew into his museum. During an eastward voyage he made some important observations on the cause of the luminosity of the sea at night. Between 1804 and 1813, he settled in St. Giles’s, Cripplegate, and in the latter year received the appointment of Surgeon to the workhouse, where he studied pathology and practical anatomy. He soon acquired a large local practice. Langstaff highlighted the bulbous condition of the extremities of the nerves in an amputated limb, which he termed ‘ganglionated’. He possessed several specimens in his collection illustrative of this condition (see Lancet, 1846, ii, 489). In 1842 he published the catalogue of his museum, in the compilation of which he had been assisted by one of his pupils, Erasmus Wilson. The full title of the work is 'Catalogue of the Preparations illustrative of normal, abnormal, and morbid structure, human and comparative, constituting the Anatomical Museum of George Langstaff', 8vo, pp. 518, London (Churchill), 1842.
For more information on Langstaff's life and career, please visit his profile on Plarr's Lives of the Fellows: https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/lives/search/results?qu=george+langstaff&te=ASSET.
For more information on Langstaff's life and career, please visit his profile on Plarr's Lives of the Fellows: https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/lives/search/results?qu=george+langstaff&te=ASSET.
Scope and ContentThis collection contains 7 series of material including 2 volumes of Commonplace Books belonging to Langstaff; some correspondence regarding the purchase of preparations in 1835; diurnal remarks on a voyage from Calcutta to England, 1799, and a transcript of this by S. Wood; 11 volumes forming a catalogue of anatomical preparations of the George Langstaff Museum; Miscellaneous preparations manuscript; part of the catalogues of the Langstaff Museum titled "Heart"; and a manuscript list of preparations titled "Abridged History of the Museum."
Extent11 boxes
LanguageEnglish
System of arrangementThe fonds has been arranged into 7 series of records.
Conditions governing accessThis collection is available to everyone for research. It can be consulted in our Research Room at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 38-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE. It is essential to book in advance so we can ensure material is available. Please email archives@rcseng.ac.uk to book a Research Room appointment.
Conditions governing reproductionCopies of material in the archives can be supplied for private study purposes only, depending on the condition of the documents. Some items within this collection may remain within copyright under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; it is the responsibility of users to obtain the copyright holder's permission for reproduction of copyright material for purposes other than research or private study. Permission to publish material, in print or online, must be sought in advance from the Royal College of Surgeons of England and, where appropriate, the copyright holder. Please email archives@rcseng.ac.uk in the first instance.
Persons keyword George Langstaff, 1780-1846, surgeon, anatomist
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