All manner of ingenuity and industry

Abstract

Imagine Alastair Compston FRS retreating from the hurly burly of academic medical life to his collection of books by Thomas Willis. Over the course of four decades, Compston has accumulated the largest library of this 17th century physician: of the 103 issues and editions of Willis’ 10 distinct ‘titles’, Compston owns 85. And so, he is able to pull them off the shelf, compare them, scrutinize their construction, analyse the illustrations and then, finally, read the text. ‘This bibliography could not have been written without repeated access to individual copies, some handled many times each day away from the watchful eye of diligent librarians fretting over the rapid turning of leaves and the painstaking unfolding of large illustrations, many already torn and fragile’ (p. 4). And any curious person, in such a treasure trove, would find themselves asking: who printed these books? How were they put together and distributed? Who bought them? Who drew the illustrations? What did Willis have to say? What impact did his ideas have? This ‘bio-bibliography’ represents the summary of Compston’s forensic research into these questions, published in the 400th anniversary year of Willis’ birth.