Current exhibit: ouch ouch ouch
In The Body in Pain, Elaine Scarry wrote that "to have pain is to have certainty; to hear about pain is to have doubt".
This influential statement, alongside research into early pseudoscientific anatomical iconography, graphic pathography, and discourses in contemporary ecofeminisms, forms the basis of ouch ouch ouch, an exhibition of new work on the somatic, temporal and poetic dimensions of physical pain.
Ouch ouch ouch will debut an artist book of speculative illness morphologies, based on a collection of sensation maps assembled through a daily practice of body scan meditation. Alongside the internal phenomena of pain, a series of gestures representing the duration of the residency (or a single very long, very painful moment) explores the non-linear, dilatory, and atemporal nature of illness.
The accompanying text addresses the act of viewing and draws into question the visible external boundaries of the human form in an extended reflection on the presence of others, objects and non-human animals in early anatomical texts.
Curated by Ev Ricky. Accessible during opening hours. On until October 15, 2025. More information.
Future lectures and exhibits
Exhibit | How to transform black and white incunabula into luxury items
When Johannes Gutenberg printed his 42-line black and white Bible in 1455, a new era began in the dissemination of knowledge. As a result, this Bible is considered as the first incunabulum, a term used to describe books printed from the beginning of printing until the year 1500. In the history of the book, this transition from manuscript to printed book triggered an intense period of innovation, in typography, book layout and decoration, to name but these.
Although still influenced by the handwritten book where colour was important, the new black and white printed book was given its own aesthetics by printers who sought to enhance its prestige. While the vast majority of printed books remained in black and white, some were rubricated, that is, decorated with simple initials of different sizes, especially red, and with other elements serving as visual markers for chapters and paragraphs, as in manuscripts.
Furthermore, printers set aside around twenty copies, sometimes printed on vellum, for hand finishing. This production was intended for religious or secular clients, many of whom were bibliophiles. The buyer could then acquire the book in leaves from the printer or a bookseller and choose to have it illuminated and bound by the artists and bookbinders in a city often very far from its place of printing. One could also buy it already ornamented, when printers would set up decoration workshops, places of serial decoration, which, despite standardization, still left room for some customizing.
The current exhibition provides an opportunity for many discoveries to be made about the hand-finishing of the incunabula drawn from both the Rare Books and Special Collections Department and the Osler Library. Visitors are invited to appreciate these artists and the beauty of their varied styles of the second half of the XVth century that transformed the seemingly austere books of medicine, science, and theological commentaries into luxury items!
Accessible during opening hours from October 21 through December 19, 2025. More information.
Recent events and exhibits
Book Talk | Something Hidden with Jefferson Lewis
On September 26th, 2025, the Osler Library of the History of Medicine heard Jefferson Lewis, author and grandson of Wilder Penfield, speak about the second edition of Something Hidden: The Life of Wilder Penfield.
The Mind Mappers
On May 27th, 2025, the Osler Library of the History of Medicine celebrated the launch of The Mind Mappers, a new book by Globe and Mail journalist Eric Andrew-Gee.
When There Are No Words
The exhibit, When There Are No Words, addresses the subjects of death and grief in Québec society through the lens of colour, symbols, printed texts, and handwritten messages found in sympathy cards from the last 150 years. It also includes a selection of condolence objects provided by the Organ and Tissue Donation Program of the McGill University Health Centre as an illustration of a different expression of sympathy. Presented by the Department of Social Studies of Medicine, Maude Abbott Medical Museum, and the Osler Library of the History of Medicine.
The Scientific Revolution in the Renaissance and the Dialogue between Galileo and Kepler
Reading Abbott
Maude Abbott loved to read. This exhibition explores both what she read and ways we can read her life story.
Past exhibitions and presentations
2024
Pam and Rolando Del Maestro Family William Osler Medical Student Essay Awards, 2024
2024 Ceremony | Molina Foundation Medical Student Osler Library Research Awards
Heart & Mind by Stéphan Ballard, 2023 Michèle Larose-Osler Library Artist-in-Residence
Thou Hast Need of Them: Historical Minorities in the Faculty of Medicine
Staff from the Osler Library of the History of Medicine, Maude Abbott Medical Museum, and the Jewish Public Library Archives discussed the fascinating holdings related to three medical graduates from McGill University, each of whom prevailed over the systemic barriers they faced in pursuing their medical careers. Each institution gave a brief presentation about their graduate, followed by the opportunity to interact with items from their material history.
2023
- The Rise and Influence of Medicine in the Islamic World, a collaboration between the Islamic Studies Library and the Osler Library of the History of Medicine, September 2023 - February 2024. Read the blog post about the exhibit.
- Coffee with a Codex: Medical Manuscripts & Marginalia / manuscrits médicaux et notes marginales. Curator Dot Porter of the University of Pennsylvania’s Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies and Prof. Emerita Faith Wallis of McGill University came together for a special joint edition of Coffee with a Codex. They looked at two medical Manuscripts: the Osler Library’s recent acquisition, Carmen de urinis with the Commentary of Gilbert the Englishman, and Manuscript LJS 24 from the Kislak collection at the University of Pennsylvania.
- McGill Medical Student Research Symposium. Meygan Brody, "Mortality in Medicine: How Palliative Care and Euthanasia Reframe Our Relationship with Death" ; Amina Moustaqim-Barrette, The opioid overdose crisis in British Columbia: Towards a Sociopolitical Reckoning ; Emmanuel Adams-Gelinas, The Biological Psychiatry of Islamic Medicine: an Antidote to Misconceptions about Medieval Madness ; Neevya Balasubramaniam, “The Central Nervous System in the 18th Century Japanese Dissection Scrolls: Art of Observation and Dissection” ; Paris Dastjerdi, "Restoring Avicenna's Tomb - A Historical Analysis of William Osler's Efforts" ; Yoel Yakobi, “An Army of the (Illustrated) Dead: The Use of Style in Andreas Vesalius's Skeleton and Muscle Men in Deposing Galen as the Emperor of Anatomy.” Plus, a special guest appearance by Dr. Milton Roxanas, "Early auscultation and the glass stethoscope." Watch the presentations.
- Danister Perera, Sri Lanka medical manuscripts as sources for medical history and the revitalization of traditional knowledge. Read the related blog! Watch the presentation.
- An evening with Ana María Gómez López, Michèle Larose - Osler Library Artist-in-Residence. 3 April 2023.
2022
- Medical student research symposium. Yoel Yakobi, "Concessions, Coercions, and Coveted Conversions: Papal Injunctions against Jewish Physicians in the Renaissance"; Alba Sanchez-Allakhverdieva, "Beyond the Origins of the Institute Philippe-Pinel: Exploring the Relationship between Forensic Psychiatry and the Deinstitutionalization Movement in Quebec"; Devon Haseltine, “Optimizing Global Food Security for a Sustainable and Healthy Tomorrow”; Rushali Gandhi, “On the Presence of Unaccounted Bias: The Saga of Samuel George Morton’s Skull Collection and Race”; Saman Arfaie, “Leonardo da Vinci's Medical Library: Mining the Secrets of Genius, and Creativity”; Ali Fazlollahi, “Passing the Torch: Education During the Golden Age of Neurosurgery at the Montreal Neurological Institute.” 1 November 2022. Watch the presentations.
- Professor Joseph W. Lella Symposium. Talks by Margaret Lock, Bernard Brais, Brendan Ross, Rolando Del Maestro, Jeremy Norman, Guylaine Beaudry, Mario Molina, Milton Roxanas, Vivien Lane, Maia Woolner (not recorded). 3 November 2022. Watch the presentation.
- Scholarship at the Source: Allister Neher on Art and Anatomy in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Talk by scholar and author Allister Neher upon themes from his book, Art and Anatomy in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Watch the presentation.
- Cure Yourself by Electricity! Personal Electrotherapeutic Devices in Canada and Beyond c. 1880s-1930s. Exhibit curated by Dr. Maia Woolner. McLennan Library Lobby, August-September 2022.
2021
- Show and Tell: The Secrets of Women / Montrer et racontrer : les secrets des femmes. Local artist Caroline Boileau and McGill-trained historian Margaret Carlyle interact with a few of the Osler Library's new acquisitions (and some older ones!) in an attempt to demystify medical history during a feminist dialogue of discovery. 15 December 2021. Enjoy the event.
- Research and the Osler. An evening celebrating medical student humanities research supported by the Osler Library. Featured speakers: Lilly Groszman, "Untold Medical History: Montreal’s Days of Shame;" Brendan Ross, "The Chinese Apotheosis of Dr. Norman Bethune: The Making of a Medical Folk Hero;" Faith Wallis, "Osler the Student." Watch the symposium.
- The many faces of Norman Bethune. A moderated discussion held virtually on 23 March 2021. Watch the discussion.
- Perspectives on Sir William Osler in the 21st century. Virtual symposium hosted by our colleagues in the Department of Social Studies of Medicine on February 3, 2021. Moderated by Suzanne Morton (McGill University) and featuring panelists Jenna Healey (Queen's University), Samir Shaheen-Hussain (McGill University), Nadeem Toodayan (University of Queensland), André Lametti (McGill University), Mary Hague-Yearl (McGill University), and Christoph Gradmann (University of Oslo). Read summaries of each of the talks, written by the medical students from the McGill Osler Society. Watch the symposium.
2020
- Osler Day, featuring the Del Maestro Family William Osler Medical Student Essay Awards (recording available) and the 43rd Annual Osler Lectureship, Wednesday November 4th, 2020.
- Poetry Matters - Shane Neilson Thursday, February 13, 2020. A poet, physician, and critic from New Brunswick, Shane Neilson focuses on the articulation of pain and disordered affect through poetic form. As poet and editor, he comments on the emergent area of "disability poetics"; as a physician, he considers the value of poetry in medical practice.
2019
- Osler Day, featuring the Pam and Rolando Del Maestro William Osler Medical Students Essay Awards and the 42nd Annual Osler Lectureship, Wednesday, November 6th, 2019.
- "The Reception of Galen's Pharmacology in Latin", talk by Mary Louise Nickerson Travel Grant awardee Dr. Iolanda Ventura, Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies, Università di Bologna, Wednesday, October 23, 2019, 17:00 in ARTS 160. Sponsored by the McGill Medievalists Annual Rare Books Talk.
- The humoral basis of race difference? Depictions of race in medicine within the holdings of the Osler Library of the History of Medicine. Talk and workshop led by Mary Hague-Yearl, organized by Robin Simpson in conjunction with Jonathas de Andrade, "Counter-Narratives and other Fallacies," exhibit at the Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery, Concordia University.
- Sir William Osler's Leonardo da Vinci Collection: Flight, Anatomy and Art. An exhibition curated by Dr. Rolando F. Del Maestro, William Feindel Professor Emeritus in Neuro-Oncology at McGill University and Director, Neurosurgical Simulation and Artificial Intelligence Learning Centre at the Montreal Neurological Institute, 15 April - 30 June 2019. A catalogue to the exhibit is available and can be viewed or downloaded. Read some press coverage of this exhibit from France.fr: la version française ; English version.
- Osler: The Man You Rarely See. An exhibition of rarely-displayed items relating to William Osler, curated by former Medical History Librarian, Pamela Miller, 15 April - 30 June 2019.
- Predictor Unveiled: The First Reliable Home Pregnancy Test & its Little-Known Connection to Montreal. Panel discussion with Meg Crane (NYC - inventor of the Predictor), Prof. Jenna Healey (Queens Univ.), Prof. Christabelle Sethna (Univ. Ottawa), and Prof. Alanna Thain (McGill Univ.), May 7, 2019.
- Curiosities of Conception; Selections from the Osler Library of the History of Medicine. An exhibit co-curated by Shana Cooperstein and Frances Cullen with contributions from Robin Lynch, Lauren Harnish, Rach Klein, Anya Kowalchuk, and Kristy Kong, 24 January - 15 May 2019.
- Corps qui hantent d'autres corps. An exhibition featuring the work of 2018 Michele Larose-Osler Library Artist-in-Residence, Caroline Boileau, 4 February - 15 April 2019.
- "Universal medicine": Lessons from seventeenth-century England, Keynote address by Lauren Kassell, University of Cambridge, Angelical Conjunctions conference, 12 April 2019.
2018
- Osler Day, featuring the Pam and Rolando Del Maestro William Osler Medical Students Essay Awards and the 41st Annual Osler Lectureship, 7 November 2018.
- The Fabric of the Human Body" (Vesalius, 1543): Images and Icons for the History of Medicine, Lecture by Hélène Cazes. Presented in collaboration with Le Département de langue et littérature françaises and Rare & Special Collections, Osler, Art, and Archives (ROAAr); supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 30 October 2018.
- De musei fabrica, Exhibition in collaboration with Text’art, a group of six Montreal fibre artists, and the Maude Abbott Medical Museum, 17 May - 20 August 2018.
- Materia Medica, Exhibition by Loren Williams, December 13, 2017 - 4 May 2018.
- Book Launch: Physicianship and the Rebirth of Medical Education, by J. Donald Boudreau, Eric Cassell, and Abraham Fuks, April 26, 2018. Print and e-book available through Library catalogue
- Jean-Martin Charcot and the “Caesarism” of the Faculty of Medicine, Lecture by Dr. Bernard Brais, sponsored by the Medical Students' Osler Society, April 17, 2018.
- Oslerian Treasures: The Father of Modern Medicine, Lecture by Professor Faith Wallis, sponsored by the Medical Students' Osler Society, February 5, 2018.
2017
- Impossible pathologies: re-fragmenting the archive, Exhibition by Lucy Lyons, October 12 - December 12, 2017.
- The Gendered Cultures of Beer and Cheese: the Regulation of Human and Microbial Bodies on the Home and Industrial Scales, 1616 - 2017, September 11 - October 2, 2017.
- Vaccination: Fame, Fear and Controversy, 1798-1998, January 2017 - August 2017.
- A History of Neuro-Oncology: Canadian Savoir Faire, a talk by Dr. Rolando Del Maestro, MD, PhD, William Feindel Emeritus Professor in Neuro-Oncology, Director of McGill Neurosurgical Simulation Research and Training Centre. This talk encouraged discussion surrounding ideas and individuals that have shaped the world of neuro-oncology, while placing emphasis on Canadian neuro-oncology research. Attendees were encouraged to prepare a ‘Canadian Neuro-Oncology Minute’ that highlighted an individual’s contributions to historical and/or current advancements in Canada and received an autographed copy of Dr. Rolando Del Maestro’s book A History of Neuro-Oncology (2008).
- Rural Medicine in 20th Century Quebec: Stories and Devices, curated by Dr. Richard Fraser, Laura Sang, Joan O’Malley, Marc Provost, Jerry Xie, Meriem Bounnab and Lucy Luo. October 2016 - January 2017.
2016
- Knowing Blood: Medical Observations, Fluid Meanings, curated by Darren N. Wagner and Nick Whitfield. January-September 2016.
2015
- Sanitizing Style: Germ Theory and Fashion at the Turn of the Century, curated by Cynthia Tang and Anna Dysert. September-December 2015.
- On the Surface/Skin Deep, curated by Sylvie Boisjoli and and Shana Cooperstein. Read exhibition talks from the curators in the spring 2015 issue of the Osler Library Newsletter (no. 122). Follow link to an interview with the curators on our blog.
2014
- The Literature of Prescription: Charlotte Perkins Gilman and The Yellow Wallpaper. A Biography of Neurasthenia in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, curated by Prof. Andrea Tone. September - April 2014.
2013
- Designing Doctors, an exhibit talk by Professor Annmarie Adams, McGill School of Architecture. Tuesday, 7 May 2013, 1:00-2:00, Meakins Auditorium (5th floor McIntyre Medical Sciences Building).
- "Neurological Laboratories" to Interdisciplinary "Centres of Brain Research": Otfrid Foerster, Wilder Penfield, and Early Neuroscience in Breslau and Montreal, a Nickerson Fellowship talk by Dr. Frank Stahnisch, Thursday, 2 May 2013, 2:00 - 3:00, Don Bates Seminar Room 101, Department of Social Studies of Medicine, McGill University, 3647 Peel Street.
2012
Artistic Practice Scientific Vision: British Artistic Anatomy in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineetenth Century, the catalogue to the exhibit curated by Dr. Allister Neher.
2011
- Our Friend the Sun: Images of Light Therapeutics from the Osler Library Collection, 1901-1944, a lecture given by Dr. Tania Anne Woloshyn (Recorded January 24, 2011). This recording is made possible by a generous gift from Gail Beck, O.Ont., Med’78 and Andrew Fenus, MLS’74.
- Osler Library Lecture: A Relationship Etched in Time: Leonardo da Vinci, the Earl of Arundel and Wenceslaus Hollar, a lecture given by Dr. Del Maestro (Recorded January 10, 2011). This recording is made possible by a generous gift from Gail Beck, O.Ont., Med’78 and Andrew Fenus, MLS’74.
- Our Friend, the Sun: Images of Light Therapeutics from the Osler Library Collection, 1901-1944, the catalogue to the exhibit curated by Dr. Tania Anne Woloshyn.
- 175 Years of the McGill Medical Library
- The Ghafiqi Project
- Margaret Ridley Charlton - Pioneer Medical Librarian. The first person with library training to work at the McGill University Medical Library and, with William Osler, one of the founders of the Medical Library Association.
- Osler's McGill: Medical Education, 1870-1885
- Our Friend the Sun - Images of Light, a lecture given by Dr. Tania Anne Woloshyn (Recorded January 24, 2011).
- Photographic Journey: McIntyre Medical Sciences Building and Osler Library - (Virtual McGill Project)
- A Relationship Etched in Time: Leonardo da Vinci, the Earl of Arundel and Wenceslaus Hollar, a lecture given by Dr. Del Maestro (Recorded January 10, 2011).
- Tour of Osler's Montreal 1870-1885 / Le Montréal de William Osler
- William Osler & the Teaching of Microscopy at McGill