A trip to Hollingsville

Currently being broadcast on Resonance FM is Hollingsville, a series in which each week writer Ken Hollings and guests explore “different aspects of our historical relationship with technology, from architecture to bodies and from computers to phantoms”.

Last week, the episode ‘Wounds: Blood on the Street’ featured as guests the crime novelist Cathi Unsworth and the Wellcome Library’s Research Officer, Ross MacFarlane.

The episode was broadcast live but is now available as a podcast from the Resonance FM website. It includes the guests discussing such topics as Wound Men illustrations, changes to the understanding of anatomy through time, the roles of ‘resurrection men’ in the history of London and what makes for a ‘murder city’…

Details on the other 'Hollingsville' episodes are available from Ken Hollings's blog and the Resonance FM website.

Image: Illustration of a Wound Man, showing a figure man afflicted with numerous injuries, including a snake bite, a dog bite, a club to the head and various knife wounds, cuts and bruises, c.1675 (MS.990)

New product trial: The Illustrated London News Historical Archive

The Wellcome Library has set up a free trial for The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, which you can access through the Library catalogue.

The trial runs until the 20th May, and we would really appreciate some feedback about the resource. We think it will make an excellent addition to our existing digital collections, so have a try and let us know what you think. There is a link to the feedback form on the catalogue entry.

Here's more details on this resource, from The Illustrated London News Historical Archive website:

“The Illustrated London News Historical Archive gives unprecedented online access to the entire run of the ILN from its first publication on 14 May 1842 to its last in 2003.

With its debut in 1842, The Illustrated London News became the world’s first fully illustrated weekly newspaper, marking a revolution in journalism and news reporting. The publication presented a vivid picture of British and world events – including news of war, disaster, ceremonies, the arts and science.

Each page has been digitally reproduced in full colour and every article and caption is full-text searchable with hit-term highlighting and links to corresponding illustrations. Facsimilies of articles and illustrations can be viewed, printed and saved either individually or in the context of the page in which they appear. Wherever possible Special Numbers covering special events such as coronations or royal funerals have been included”.