In April, the Library will launch a new strand of events, held in the Reading Room, to explore how authors have drawn on the resources of the Wellcome Library to inspire and inform their writing.
The Ghosts of Netley, Thursday 23 April, 18.30–20.00
Philip Hoare, author of Spike Island, will use archive images and film to re-imagine the history of Netley Victorian military hospital through its ruins, and the disparate men and women who worked or visited there.
The Atmosphere of Heaven, Thursday 21 May, 18.30-20.00
Author Mike Jay will discuss his new work The Atmosphere of Heaven: The Unnatural Experiments of Dr. Beddoes and his Sons of Genius, to be published by Yale University Press in April. Mike will discuss the chaotic rise and fall of the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol, and reveal for the first time its crucial influence - on modern drug culture, attitudes toward objective and subjective knowledge, the development of anaesthetic surgery, and the birth of the Romantic movement.
Tickets for both events are free but must be booked in advance. You can also telephone on 020 7611 2222.
