Stories
- In pictures
Pepys and the plague
Through its long history, London has survived some enormous epidemics. During the 1665 Great Plague of London, the city burned, shops closed, the streets emptied and bodies piled up. Read Samuel Pepys’s account of how the city pulled through.
- In pictures
A history of medical masks
The now ubiquitous face mask was first used by artists working with toxic substances. See how its design and use has evolved over centuries of plagues and pathogens.
- In pictures
Measure for measure?
From censuses to smartwatches, Ross MacFarlane shows how we have tracked health across the centuries.
- In pictures
Superstition, contagion and medical rumour
The great generator of confusion, rumours have not spared human health from their chaos. Find out how whispers, gossip and rumours have caused medical mishaps through the ages.
Catalogue
- Pictures
- Online
An affluent family forced to leave their home due to plague in their neighbourhood sitting outside temporary huts in a camp: Bombay at the time of the plague. Photograph, 1896/1897.
Date: 1896Reference: 37092i- Pictures
The first plague in Egypt, rivers turned to blood. Coloured etching.
Date: [1775/1779]Reference: 6053iPart of: Collection des prospects- Videos
Invisible enemies. Part 3, Epidemics - products of progress.
Date: 1992- Videos
TB : the forgotten plague.
Date: 1993- Books
Forty days : quarantine and the traveller, c. 1700-1900 / John Booker.
Booker, John, 1941-Date: 2022